Inferno: Earth
by TheJabuticaba
Summary: Set in The GiB verse. After a previously hidden heritage comes to light, Agent Jay of MiB has a power hungry space aunt and Alpha in a clichéd villain trench coat after her. In other words, it's just another normal day at work for Jay. The only problem? Jay's not Jay anymore. She's Jane Evans of Eisenhower High School, due to a certain rule regarding underage workers.
1. Chapter 1 Permanent Powers

**_Author's Note: Well, here's the first chapter of Inferno. Enjoy._**

**Permanent Powers**

_"Pop goes your liver!" Zeeltor sang cheerfully. A thoughtful look spread over his features. "Or your spleen. Or any other of your vital organs."_

#MIB#

Cheese logs.

Dip.

Hoontaks.

Jay wasn't sure if she would ever look at dip or a 'cheese log' in the same way again. Ever.  
As for Hoontaks, she would be happy if she didn't see another one bent on galaxy domination for another decade or so.

Jay shook her head, or at least tried to – her mind always wandered whenever she had a check-up. Right now, Zeeltor was scrutinizing her head with an apparatus that Jay had never seen before.

"Agent Jay!" the blue skinned alien scolded. "Do stop moving."  
"Sorry." Jay looked down at her hands sheepishly. From Zeeltor's frustrated sigh, Jay belatedly realised that she had moved her head again.

"Hm…very interesting."

Jay blinked and stopped staring blankly at the wall, as Zeeltor's voice jolted her out of her one-sided staring contest. "What's interesting?" She asked curiously, almost fearing the answer.

"Agent Jay, do you remember the feel of creating the flames?" Zeeltor deflected her question.  
_Oh no._ Jay thought in despair, before saying aloud "Yes, why?"  
"Kindly try to create those flames again."

Jay was well aware of the fact that Zeeltor had deflected her question yet again. She knew that trying to wheedle information out of Zeeltor was impossible, and instead closed her eyes and concentrated.

_Heck. I don't even know why he wants me to do this. _If it was possible to roll one's eyes while they were closed, Jay would have._ I thought he said that my condition was cured-_

Jay jumped in surprise. There was a small flame glowing in her cupped hands. Jay squeaked in surprise and waved her hands around in an attempt to put them out. A second later, her hands were covered in fire extinguisher foam.

"What the heck was that?!"

Zeeltor was already calling for help. "Hello?" he asked into the microphone that connected him directly to the twins. "Tell Zed we have a problem."

#MIB#

"I'm a _what_?!" Jay demanded.

"You're an Ignisian, Slick." Kay repeated that funny sounding word that Zeeltor had said earlier. "Partly, at least." He added at Jay's stricken expression.

"What are Ignisi-Igni-" Jay stumbled over the word.

"Ignisians." Kay provided. "They're a race of aliens in the outer branch of the Milky Way. Known for generating fires, and for not thinking before rushing headlong into situations. Sound familiar?"

"Wait a second," Jay held up one hand, "I thought the fire power came from that dip."

"No, Agent Jay." Zeeltor shook his head. "I was correct when I said that was cured by zero-gravity. I'm starting to believe that the dip was merely a catalyst for your heritage to come to light."

"Are you saying that one of Jay's ancestors were alien?" Zed inquired Zeeltor.  
Zeeltor nodded. "I believe so." He pointed to an enlarged image of Jay's current blood cells. "See those ones there?" he pointed to a clump of bright green cells.  
Zed nodded. "Ignisian blood remnants."

"Hold up." Jay finally caught up. "Someone in my family is an alien?"  
Zeeltor nodded.  
"I knew it! Great Aunt Araminta was always weird!" Jay snapped her fingers in a 'light bulb' moment.  
"No, Agent Jay. The ratio of the amount of Ignisian blood to human blood in your body is much higher than that. The Ignisian you're after must have been a direct relative." Zeeltor corrected sagely.  
"My mother?" Jay was gobsmacked.  
"Or your father."

Kay folded his arms. "What interests me is that we didn't see this before."  
"Oh," Zeeltor smiled cheerily. "That's because Jay's finally starting to mature."  
"Hey!" Jay protested indignantly. "I'm right here, you know."  
"He meant your body." Kay rolled his eyes. Then he looked intently at Jay. "Which brings us to another point."

Jay gulped.

"Zeeltor, correct me if I'm wrong," Kay's tone, however, suggested that he knew exactly what he was talking about, "but am I correct in believing that the maturing age for Ignisians is nine sigloks, and is still considered underage?"

"That is correct, Agent Kay." Zeeltor confirmed.

"And isn't nine sigloks an equivalent to _seventeen_ human years?" Kay raised an eyebrow at Jay, who looked absolutely gobsmacked.

"Oh!" Zeeltor looked at Jay. "But she looks so old for someone who is supposed to be seventeen years old."

Jay looked up long enough to glare at Zeeltor "I don't look that old! And I'm not seventeen!"

#MIB#

Zed looked at Kay. Kay looked back at Zed.  
"This is not good." Kay said finally.

Before Zed could say anything, a knock sounded at the door, before it opened to reveal Elle. Her eyes swept over Zed's office before settling on Kay.

"I just heard about Jay. Is it true?" Elle asked.  
"Afraid so." Kay answered bluntly.  
"Damn!" Elle hissed. "How could we have missed this?"

Kay raised an eyebrow (twice within the same hour, it had to be some kind of record). "By 'this', are you referring to the fact that Jay is part alien, or that she's underage, or that an Ignisian managed to, for lack of a better word, reproduce with a human without the MIB realising?" he drawled blandly.

Elle breathed out through her nose. "All three, I guess. No, wait, make that two. I can guess how she looks so old."

Both men stared blankly at her.

"Haven't any of you realised that Jay never shows up without at least some hint of make up?"

Zed and Kay shared an _I-never-did-notice_ look.

"Never mind." Elle answered exasperatedly. _Men._ She rolled her eyes mentally.

#MIB#

Two hours later found all three MIB agents searching for any information connecting to Jay, Ignisians, and laws regarding underage beings working for MIB without their parent's permission.

Zed spoke up. "My guess is that Jay was probably placed on earth by either one or both of her parents."  
"Her parents are dead." Elle pointed at a line on the computer screen. "It says her mother was found dead in an alley, and her father simply disappeared one day. Jay was raised by her Aunt Rose."  
"Records can be faked easily." Kay did not look away from his screen. "As proven by Jay. According to her records, she's supposed to be twenty five."

"That's an eight year difference!" Elle looked over Kay's shoulder.

#MIB#

The truth serum worked as well as it did **last time***, except this time, it did reach the intended target. Which was still Jay, by the way.

Elle had protested. "I don't think Jay would lie to us."  
"All of us thought Jay was human." Kay retorted. "And look where that got us."  
"Oh, fine." Elle crossed her arms. "But try to be nice. She's still your partner."  
"Aren't I always?" Kay shot over his shoulder as he entered the interrogation chamber.

Jay looked up from the **_MIB Yellow Pages*_** as soon as Kay entered. "Hi." She offered sheepishly.  
Kay cut straight to the chase. "How old are you, really?"  
Unlike last time, Jay did not fight the truth serum. "I think I'm twenty-five, Kay."  
Kay frowned. He knew Ignisians were not immune to the truth serum, and Jay had been unable to fight off the effects, which meant that "You really think you're twenty-five years old, don't you?"  
Jay nodded.  
"So, I believe you will be surprised if I informed you that you are seventeen years old biologically?" Kay remarked lightly, and watched Jay's reaction. Under other circumstances, it would have been quite entertaining.  
Jay looked gobsmacked. "I thought you were kidding about that! I- How could-" Jay took a deep breath and tried again. "I really am twenty-five years old, Kay."  
"Still doesn't explain why biologically you're only seventeen, though." Kay rested his chin in his hand, his brow furrowed in thought. His gaze shifted back to Jay. "Who are your parents?" he demanded.

"Martin and Darla Edwards." Jay replied instantly. "They're dead, by the way." She added nonchalantly.  
Kay hoped this was because of the serum. "Before today, did you know you were an alien or suspected anything?"  
"No."

#MIB#

"She's telling the truth." Kay informed Elle and Zed. "Or at least what she thinks is the truth."  
"Damn." Zed muttered. "I was hoping she was lying."  
"Damn?" Elle echoed. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's _wrong_? I'll tell you what's wrong!" Zed snapped, an uncharacteristic anger overcoming him. "Right now, Jay has memories of twenty-five years of her life when she should only have seventeen!"

Elle paled. "This means her memories could have been tampered with before she joined MIB."

"There's no doubt about that." Kay said dryly. "The main question now is why."

"But before we start worrying about that," Zed added to their list of worries, "we need to remember that the United Intergalactic Relations has policies against underage workers in MIB."

**_*See the episode 'The Bad Seed Syndrome' for further reference.  
*The MIB Yellow Pages appears in 'The Big Little Man Syndrome', in the interrogation room._**


	2. Chapter 2 The Neuralysed

**_Author's Notes: The quote below is from MIB 3. And I wasn't sure exactly what the high school was called in 'The Back To School Syndrome', so it's called Isonhower High for now._**

**The Neuralysed**

_KAY: "Just one more thing – an eye exam."  
JAY: "That's not an eye exam! That's a big-ass neuralyser!"_

#MIB#

Kay had always known that Jay would never adhere to the rules of normal, and that trouble wouldn't be too far behind her in her exploits. It was quite obvious from day one, when she had decided that skirts were not a good idea for field agents, and that stamping on earth bugs was considered a good distraction for an alien Bug. However, it didn't mean that sometimes he wished that trouble didn't follow her.

When the two had begun 'going out' (as the Worms explained to Frank the Pug), Kay knew the trouble that would eventually brew up, and turn around and kick him in the teeth when he least expected it. Apparently, teeth-kicking came in many forms, and finding out that his partner was underage was one of the ways.

For one moment, Kay wondered if he had made the right choice in choosing to be in a relationship with a co-worker, before another thought kicked in (not the teeth-kicking type).

_She's worth it._ The emotional part of him decided. The cynical side snorted. _Despite all the problems that come with her._

"Kay?" Elle waved a hand in front of his face. "Have you found any way we can exploit the underage worker rule yet?"

Kay shook himself out of his thoughts, and returned his attention to the computer in front of him. "Getting there."

#MIB#

Two more hours later, Zed and Elle were at their wit's end.

"So, isn't there one single loophole we can exploit?" Zed asked hopefully.

"Not that I'm aware of." Elle answered sombrely. "It says that, and I quote, 'Any MIB personnel must be over the standard age of their origin, regardless of species', unquote."

"Unless with a guardian's permission." Kay added. "Or else they must be immediately neuralysed if possible, and sent back to their home-world, until they reach their adult age."

"We can't simply ask her parents – they're supposed to be dead!" Zed exclaimed. "And we can't just neuralyse Jay and ship her back to Ignisia!"

Kay smirked smugly, an _I-know-a-loophole_ sort of smirk. "Who said anything about Ignisia?"

#MIB#

"You guys are gonna neuralyse me?" Jay asked in disbelief. "You wouldn't!"

"Relax, Jay," Elle soothed "it's not permanent. It's only until you come of age-"  
"By earth standards?" Jay interrupted anxiously.  
"-yes," Elle continued, "or until we figure out why you have twenty-five years' worth of memories."

"But until then," Kay said as he put on his sunglasses, "you won't remember anything about your life. You'll be starting over."

Jay's eyes widened in panic. "Kay! Wait! There's gotta be another way!" She glanced at Elle, only to find her donning her pair of sunglasses.

"Sorry." Kay whispered softly, trying to ignore the look of hurt and betrayal on Jay's face. Then, he pressed the red button.

#MIB#

"Your name is Jane Evans. You are seventeen years old and in your final year of high school. You have recently suffered a bout of amnesia, and have been transferred to Isonhower High. You live alone, ever since your Grandmother Araminta passed away. You have an eccentric uncle by the name Alexander Zeeltor, whom you have never met, and he takes care of all your economical needs. You are not an alien, and the organisation known as The Men In Black does not exist. Have a nice day."

#MIB#

Jane Evans gulped nervously at the sight of Isonhower High. She steeled herself and set her jaw. _Right, Evans, show no weaknesses, or else they'll tear you to pieces._

Then she entered the school gates. As she walked through the school grounds, she was very aware of the whispers that followed her.  
"Ugh, that skirt is so last year." muttered one student.  
"She new or somethin'?" Another one wondered out loud.  
"Miss Evans!" one voice broke over the hissing whispers.

Jane whirled around, and found herself face-to-beard with…  
"Principal Kline." Jane tried to sound polite.

Principal Kline was by no means an overweight man, but he did have quite an impressive height. He towered over Jane, who was already short to begin with. Jane sincerely hoped that she wasn't a trouble maker – she couldn't really remember.

"First day, eh?" Kline smiled down at Jane.  
"Y-yes, sir." Jane fought to keep the tremor out of her voice, and wondered if it was customary to attempt and scare the wits out of the new kid.  
Without dropping the smile, Kline said "Well, just stay out of trouble and you'll be fine."

Jane was saved from an answer as the bell rang. "Later, Principal Kline!" she called over her shoulder as she escaped to her first class of the day – arithmetic.

#MIB#

_FILE: AGENT J_

Kay looked over the file showing records of all that Jay had done during her time in MIB, before clicking the delete button. A small window popped up. 'ARE YOU SURE?' it asked.  
Kay sighed, and ran a hand over his face, before clicking 'YES'.

"Worried about Jay?" Elle spoke from behind him.  
"No." Kay answered quickly. "She'll be fine." He ignored the fact that Jay had a knack for getting into perilous situations.  
"Sure. Keep telling yourself that." Elle smiled slightly. "Come on, I think Zed wants to see us in the hub."

When the two agents did reach the hub, they did not get a chance to talk to Zed. Bob burbled out something.

"An incoming call from the Ignisian monarchy?" Zed swore under his breath. "Oh, this can't be good. Well, patch it through."

The screen behind the twins flickered to life, and a yellow-eyed being appeared. The figure resembled a walking bonfire – the entire body seemed to be made of red flames. Two bright yellow spots indicated where its eyes were. It was dressed in robes that resembled Roman togas. The figure peered down at the agents gathered in front of the screen. "Where is the one you call Jaime Darla Edwards?" she (at least, that was what Kay believed it to be) growled.

"I'm afraid we don't know anyone who goes by that name." Zed answered smoothly.

Kay saw Elle concealing a grin – Zed wasn't technically lying. Right now, Jaime Darla Edwards did not exist. Jane Evans did.

A slit of yellow stretched across the female Ignisian's face. Kay assumed it was smiling. "I am the Empress of Ignisia. You cannot keep my niece from me." The smile contorted into a scowl. "I have the right to know her location!"

_Ah, the second kick in the teeth. _Kay mused wryly. _Leave it up to Jay to have a hidden royal heritage._

Kay nearly snorted aloud when he remembered the brash and often rude attitude Jay was capable of wielding. One particular memory of her fighting off a swarm of Skraaldians while using colourful language came to mind. Kay chuckled mentally. _Definitely not royalty._

"By what right, exactly?" Zed pressed.

"By my right as her family." The Empress replied icily. "As she has come of age, she has the right to challenge me for my place as ruler."

Next to Kay, Elle sucked in a breath sharply. If Kay had less self-control, he might have done the same. Ignisians weren't just known for their ability to create fire and generally being hotheads. The thing that they were most known for was the gory and murderous way a leader remained in power – by killing all other family members eligible for challenging the current ruler, often as soon as they came of age.

Kay glanced at Elle and met her eyes. They had both come to the same conclusion. Jay had probably been brought up on earth for her own safety by her parents, before _something_ killed them. Right now, the _something_ was looking more and more like the Empress to Kay. Jay had remained hidden by some miracle, but something must have tipped the Empress off, that she had one more relative she could exterminate.

Kay froze as he realised what had tipped the Empress off – when Jay had single-handedly taken down the Hoontaks' mother ship, with the help of the fire power. He had to admit it, though, the Empress sure acted quickly.

And now, the Empress was after Jay. And she could do it legally – Jay was old enough.

"So," the Empress smiled chillingly again, "I'll ask again. Where is Jaime Darla Edwards?"

#MIB#

Jane had no idea where she was. She had navigated around the high school well enough for her first few classes, but by the end of the day, she was hopelessly lost. During recess, Jane had been avoided like the plague, save for three cheer leaders who annoyed Jane to no end, with their high pitched squealing voices and endless giggling. She had also been approached by two bullying quarter backs. They weren't very nice either.

Now, during lunch time, Jane was wandering the buildings, looking for the classroom to her last class – Science.

"Ugh, who names their kid 'Amber' anyway?" Jane muttered to herself, clutching her books to her chest as she rounded another corridor. "Should've called her 'Giggling Gertie'." Jane would have continued grumbling, if she hadn't crashed straight into someone else.

"Sorry!" she apologised as the same time as the other person. Jane blinked in surprise, and looked at the other person.

She had seen him around the school, immersed in several text books. _What was his name? Reece? Randy?_

"Uh…you're Rex, right?" Jane asked finally, hoping it was the right name.


	3. Chapter 3 High School Blues

**_Author's Note: In case anyone was wondering, Rex is from the episode 'The Back To School Syndrome'. By the way, I'm Australian, so I apologise in advance for any mistakes I might make about American education systems._**

**High School Blues**

_Previously:_

_"Uh… you're Rex, right?"_

The boy looked at Jane. He tilted his head to one side. "And you're Jane Evans."  
Jane blushed. "I think everyone knows that by now."

Indeed, Jane's name had been yelled across the playground by a furious Principal Kline, when he had spotted her centimetres away from a fist fight with two quarter backs during recess.

To Jane's surprise, Rex smiled. "That was a brave thing you did."  
"Are you talking about me taking on those two brainless gorillas?" Jane asked wryly. "Because the only thing I was awarded was a public humiliation."  
Rex brushed off her comment as he started to pick up his books. Jane did the same.  
Rex shrugged. "Not everyone has the guts to stand up to those two. Especially not on their first day."

"Yeah, well, not everyone gets detention on their first day either." Jane remarked lightly.

Before Rex could say anything else, the bell rang for the end of lunch. "I'll see you around." He waved as he disappeared around a corridor.

Jane waved back, glad that she had somewhat made a friend. Then she realised that she still hadn't found the science classroom.

#MIB#

"I'm telling you," Zed repeated impatiently for the umpteenth time, "we don't have a Jaime Edwards in our ranks." _Not even an Agent J anymore._

The Empress scowled. (Elle thought the expression suited her well.) "Very well, then, human." She spat disdainfully. "Mark my words: I will find her."

Then the screen flickered out, and the call ended.

"That was one of the lamest lines I've ever heard." X suddenly remarked from behind Elle. Elle jumped violently. "What the-" Elle barely stopped herself from swearing. "How long have you been standing there?" she snapped instead.

"For a while," he answered cryptically, "enough to know that Jay's in deep trouble."

"Damn it." Zed muttered, before issuing the twins an order. "I want every flight to earth to be recorded and inspected for Ignisians, or any species from that galaxy. Do not let any unauthorised flights within the solar system, is that understood?"  
The twins nodded.  
"Elle and X," Zed added, "delete anything in the MIB database that relates to Jay. I don't want a security leak should our system be hacked."

Both agents left to do his bidding.

Finally, Zed turned to Kay. "We're going to need someone to watch Jay."

If Jay had been present, she would have made a comment along the lines of "Didn't know you cared that much, chief."

#MIB#

Jane really, really hated the tardy bell. If it weren't for that bell, she wouldn't have gotten the second detention of the day when she finally burst into the science classroom, three seconds after the stupid bell rang.

The teacher had looked icily at her before saying shortly "Detention, Miss Evans."  
_How the heck does everyone know my name?!_ Jane felt like shrieking.  
"And sit down," the science teacher had snapped, "before I decide to give you another detention."

Scowling, almost like her alien aunt, Jane flopped down in a spare seat.

Meanwhile, the science teacher resumed teaching the class. "The experiment is up on the board-"

Jane glanced at the board, and sure enough, there was a neat chalk drawing depicting what seemed like a beaker on top of a Bunsen burner.

"-and get into twos, if you please. Start immediately."

Jane nearly groaned aloud. _Partner work? I don't even have any friends!_

"Jane?" A voice asked from her left.  
"I-wha- Rex?!" Jane exclaimed in surprise. "You're in this class?"  
"Yeah." Rex answered rather sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't realise that."  
"Oh, never mind." Jane offered him a weak smile.  
"Care to be my partner?" Rex asked timidly.  
This time, a real grin appeared on Jane's face. "Sure!"

The experiment wasn't too bad – it involved extracting DNA and RNA from peas. As soon as the bell went, Jane made a dash for the door; there was no way she was going to be late to detention. She already had two, and did not fancy gaining another one.

"Catch you later, Rex!" she called over her shoulder.

#MIB#

Principal Kline frowned as he looked over the 'detentionees' as they all sat quietly, counting the seconds of their imprisonment. Well, all except for one.  
"Miss Evans!" he barked.  
The guilty girl jumped.  
"Stop fidgeting!"  
Jane made an effort to be still.

Principal Kline sighed. _She's going to be a tough one to straighten out. _He returned his attention to the transfer papers that had arrived during the day. A Mr Brennan Kay had been transferred from **_Middleton High*_**, and was due to start next week.

Kline frowned again. As far as he knew, Middleton High school only had one teacher – Steve Barkin.  
_Please let Brennan Kay be a competent teacher._ Kline prayed silently. He had met Steve Barkin once, and never wished to do so again; that man was a nutcase.

#MIB#

When the 'detentionees' had finally been released, Jane nearly cheered with joy. By the time she finally left the school gates, she found a very familiar face, or rather, the back of Rex's head. He was walking in the same direction in which Jane lived.

"Hey, Rex!" Jane called. "Wait up!"

Rex turned around, and smiled when he saw Jane. "Hello." He greeted as Jane caught up with him. "How was detention?"  
"Torturous." Came the answer. Then- "What are you still doing in school?"  
"Oh, I was researching in the library." Rex answered flippantly.  
"Research? Library?" Jane stared at him. "Isn't that just like detention? You know, quiet, boring and absolutely painful?"

Rex laughed it off. "Believe me, I know the feeling of detention. It is nothing like the library."  
Jane pretended to look amazed. "You?" she clasped a hand over her heart dramatically. "But you're Mr Perfect!"  
Rex rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Oh, knock it off, J."  
Jane stopped suddenly.  
Rex turned around when he realised Jane had stopped. "What's wrong?"  
"You just called me J." Jane replied, trying to grasp that slight feeling of familiarity. "I-I think someone's called me that before."  
"Do you remember?" Rex asked curiously, relieved that Jane hadn't been offended at the nickname. When Jane Evans had been introduced that morning, her condition had also been told – that she had suffered from amnesia.  
"I think it was someone with blue eyes." Jane absentmindedly cupped her chin in one hand, deep in thought.  
"Really?" Rex seemed incredulous. "Of all the things you remember, you remember the eye colour of that person? Not the gender or the name?"  
Jane shrugged. "I've always been..."  
"Unique?" Rex offered.  
"Yeah."

#MIB#

It had become quite a routine for Agent A. Sit quietly in Alpha's brain. Watch Alpha go about his daily business. Watch impassively when he threatened people. Watch Alpha retreat to the sewers. Sleep. Wake up.

Repeat, ad nauseam.

Then, to his surprise, the routine was broken.

_Get me Jaime Darla Edwards._ The order came quickly, from the outer branches of the Milky Way.

For the first time in five years, (for he had spent the first five believing that he could fight against Alpha, before he had given in) Agent A felt an emotion other than mild despair and helplessness. It was worry for Kay. Two words summed up his feelings nicely.

_Oh, crap._

**_*From Kim Possible, one of my favourite shows._**


	4. Chapter 4 The Stalker

**_Author's Notes: The aliens that are trying to overthrow Rex's father make an appearance in this chapter. For the moment, Rex's last name is Jones (because I'm very unimaginative) and the aliens are called Narians (at least, that's what it sounded like in the episode)._**

**_Also, a warning – I may not update next week._**

**The Stalker**

It was three days after Jane's first day that she finally noticed something off about the neighbourhood; namely, that she noticed someone following her.  
Not that she actually saw anybody. She had the stereotypical _I-feel-someone-watching-me_ feeling.

On Friday morning, Jane decided to confide in Rex. She found Rex in a secluded corner of the school grounds, sitting on a bench and perusing a local newspaper.

"Morning, Rex."

Rex glanced up from his newspaper. "Hello, Jane." He looked back down to the newspaper.  
Jane tilted her head to one side, trying to read over Rex's shoulder. "Whatcha reading about?"  
"Some creepy guy in the area." Rex replied. "It's a warning for all the children and teenagers – apparently he might be a kidnapper."

"Oh, man." Jane groaned, face in hands. _Why me?  
_Rex looked up at Jane. "What's wrong?"

"Rex," Jane peeked through her fingers at Rex before lowering her hands, "I've got to warn you, this is going to sound crazy."  
Rex folded up the newspaper. "I'm listening."  
"I think I'm being followed."

Rex stared, and wasn't sure if he should laugh or not. "You're kidding, right?"  
"What? No!" Jane insisted. "I'm not joking!"  
"Have you actually seen anybody?" Rex asked, giving up on a quiet morning.  
"That's the problem," Jane sighed as she sat down next to Rex, "I can feel it."  
Rex gave her a blank stare.  
"It's hard to explain, but I - oh, I don't know - I can sense him."

Rex raised an eyebrow sceptically. "You're trusting your senses?"  
"Yes."  
"The same one that told you to blow up half the science classroom?"  
Jane punched Rex lightly on the arm, but was grinning. "That was an isolated incident."  
"Whatever you say, Jane."

"Well, well, well," drawled an all too familiar voice from behind the two teens, "if it isn't our favourite resident bookworm and his girlfriend."

Both Rex and Jane turned around, and sure enough, the two quarter backs that had a bad habit of picking on newly arrived students were standing behind them. From the very first day, Jane hadn't bothered to find out their names. Instead, she dubbed one Blondie and the other Curly. It worked, as long as she didn't say it out loud.

Jane decided that she had enough. Here she was, finally trying to tell someone about her problem, and those two knuckleheads just had to come along and ruin it.

"Oh, for crying out lo- I'm not his girlfriend!" Jane snapped, before imitating Blondie's drawl. "And why don't you go pick on someone your own neck size?" From Rex's snigger beside her, Jane knew that she had imitated it enough to let Blondie know that she was mocking him, but not enough to make it sound proper.

"Are you talking to me?" Blondie growled darkly.

"Well," Jane smirked, a retort already on her lips, "of course not. If I was," Jane slowed her voice down dramatically, "I'd be sppeeaakiiing mmmuuuuch sloooower."

Jane saw it before it happened. Blondie's face had turned red, and instinctively, Jane knew that something was going to happen, and that something was most likely going to be violent. Moving quicker than she had ever before, Jane flipped gracefully off the bench. Half a second later, Blondie's hands were where her shoulders had been. If Jane hadn't moved, she'd be sprawled on the ground by now.

"What the-" Blondie stuttered. "H-how did you move so fast?"  
Behind him, Curly sniggered. He muttered something along the lines of "That girl too fast for you?"  
Blondie's face darkened rapidly and Rex mentally compared him to a tomato. He didn't expect Blondie to lash out at him. Nor did he expect Jane to pull him off the bench, where he narrowly missed Blondie's fists.  
"Thanks, Jane." Rex gasped, stunned at her speed, his heart pounding in his chest from shock.  
Blondie looked ready to pulverize the two of them, but Curly held him back. "Not here."  
Blondie scowled, but nodded reluctantly and allowed himself to be dragged away from Jane and Rex.

Jane let out a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. "Phew."

"Jane!" Rex suddenly turned to her. "How did you move so fast?"  
"Well…" Jane tried to scramble for an answer.  
"And how are you so acrobatic?"  
"I don't know." Jane admitted.  
"How could you not know?" Rex asked. "Come on, this is _you_ we're talking about here. And I'm pretty sure you weren't this fast when you first arrived."

"I really don't know," Jane repeated, "but I think I've gotten faster ever since I've arrived. It's got to do with that sense I was talking about. I've noticed it becoming stronger."  
"I sincerely hope you're talking about your kidnapper sense." Rex replied.  
"I am." Jane snapped. Then she ran a hand over her face. "Look, it's kinda like this." Jane closed her eyes. "See how my eyes are closed?"  
"I can see that." Rex rolled his eyes in a _get-on-with-it_ sort of way, before remembering that Jane couldn't see him. "And?"  
"And I can sense people. I can sense you, rather than see." Jane frowned in concentration. "And if I try hard enough… Principal Kline is going to come around the corner in…five…four…three…two…"

"What are you two doing?" Principal Kline asked curiously as he rounded the corner.

Rex was too busy gaping at Jane to answer.

#MIB#

Jane had nearly forgotten about her apparent stalker problem, until the end of the day, when Jane was walking home with Rex.

"Someone's following us." Jane whispered to him softly.  
Rex started to look around nervously.  
"Don't!" Jane hissed sharply. "I need you to act natural."  
"Act natural?!"  
"Sshhh!" Jane shushed him. "We're almost at your home."  
"So?" Rex failed to see how any of this was relevant.  
"I know the streets off by heart –" she stopped at Rex's incredulous look, "-I was brought up here, you know."  
"Never mind, just go on." Rex put his hands up in an _I-didn't-say-anything _manner.  
"I can probably out run them." Jane finished.  
"But-" Rex started to argue.  
"I'm sorry, Rex," Jane muttered out of the corner of her mouth as the two followers were getting closer, "but you'll just slow me down."  
Jane didn't miss the look of hurt and… fear? that flashed across his face.  
"Besides," Jane tried to lighten the situation, "this way one of us can call for help. If I don't call you by one hour, you have my permission to panic."  
"Oh, alright." Rex finally conceded. "But I still think we should take them on together." There was no way Rex would forgive himself if those two (that he had yet to see) were Narians, terrorists against his home world, and if Jane got caught in the crossfire. She was human, after all.

"You, start a fight, Mr Bookworm?" Jane teased him quietly as they arrived at Rex's apartment. Then she asked out loud. "You live alone, Rex?"

"Nah," Rex answered, hoping his voice did not betray the nervousness he felt, "I live with friends of my parents. My parents live…out of town. How about you?"  
"I live alone." Jane considered her own words. "Sort of."  
"Sort of?" Rex echoed.  
"I have an Uncle Alexander, but I've never actually seen him. He sends me e-mails." Then Jane lowered her voice in a mock-conspiring whisper. "I think he works for the government."  
"How do you know that?"  
"He somehow found out I got two detentions on the first day of school."  
Rex allowed a small snigger. "Creepy."

#MIB#

Far away in the laboratory of MIB, Zeeltor grumbled, after hearing that particular piece of information over a microphone-speaker combo. "I am not creepy." _Ah well. At least the bug I planted is working._

#MIB#

As soon as Rex disappeared into his apartment, the prickly feeling of being watched returned tenfold. Jane stole a glance over her shoulder. No one was there. Jane shrugged off the feeling before jogging along the foot path and ducking into a nearby alley. She flattened herself against the brick wall, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And-

Nothing.

As quickly as the feeling had appeared, it disappeared, and was replaced by a sense of foreboding. Slowly, she stepped out from the brick wall and looked cautiously down the street. There was still nothing.

Jane never saw the two quarter backs, Blondie and Curly, crawling down the wall, and sniggering and hissing like a pair of hyenas turned lizards. She sensed them.

"What the heck are you doing?!" Jane's eyes widened in horror as she took in the two crawling boys coming steadily closer.  
"Why, revenge, of course." hissed Blondie cheerfully as he leapt to the ground, followed quickly by Curly.

Jane was unaware she had been backing away from them, until her back hit a wall. In her panic, she had run into a dead end.  
_Oh. Sh*t._ She hoped Rex had the sense to panic early.  
"Stay away from me!" Jane tried to sound confident, and was mortified when her voice came out in a squeak.

Blondie continued to laugh in that horrible strangled hissing before he launched himself at her. Jane tried to remember everything she had ever learned about self-defence. To her surprise, she found herself manoeuvring Blondie in his charge until she had him in a headlock. She hadn't tried at all – it was all muscle memory, as if she had done this sort of thing daily.

_Just what did I forget in my amnesia?_ Jane had time to ponder, before Blondie jerked himself out of her grasp. Jane blinked in surprise when his face came away, to reveal a mottled green and wrinkly face where Blondie's human face had been.

_Oh. My. Gosh. _Jane thought dumbly, staring at Blondie's face. _He's. A. FREAKING. LIZARD._

"Looksss like the cat'ssss out of the bag." Curly hissed, his 's's stretched out. Then he tore his human face off, before launching what appeared to be a fireball at Jane.

Jane – _dignity be damned!_ – shrieked a very girly shriek as she ducked behind a trash bin and looked at the spot where she had been standing. It was smoking slightly, and there was a tiny crater. Jane looked up, just as Blondie (she mused that she should really be calling him Wrinkly #1, if she survived this ordeal) leapt at her again. Jane swung her legs up, and sent him sprawling into the wall behind her. Meanwhile, Curly (or Wrinkly #2) slammed her against the wall before she could prepare herself for another attack. "You have no idea what you're dealing with, human." He hissed.

If there was anything that Jane might have hated, no, _strongly disliked_ about herself, it was her inability to keep her mouth shut. "Sure I do," she grunted, "I saw your picture in the dictionary – it was next to the word 'ugly'!" Then she brought her fist into Curly's (Wrinkly #2's) face.

Curly let her go, clutching his nose and hissing in pain. Jane, using the wall as a support, pushed herself back onto her feet, grimacing when the movement was protested violently by her back. _Ooh. That's going to leave a bruise._

The two Narians were too busy trying to exact their revenge on Jane to notice a trench-coated figure watching them from the mouth of the alleyway. Jane was busy trying not to get the stuffing beaten out of her to notice. Then the trench-coated figure left, after assessing the situation – two Narians attacking a half Ignisian of royal blood.

A shuffling sound from behind Jane alerted her to the fact that Wrinkly #1, formerly Blondie, had crept up on her, holding a bin above his head. Jane knew she wouldn't have enough time to duck out of the way.  
_Here lies Jane Evans. Got binned._ Jane could almost see her epitaph.

"Freeze! MIB!" a voice shouted from the mouth of the alleyway.

_Whatever MIB is,_ Jane thought as she watched Wrinkly #1 dropped the bin harmlessly, a look of horror coming over his face, _it sure is powerful._


	5. Chapter 5 The Substitute

**_Author's Notes: Forget the warning I gave last week. It's next week that needs worrying about, so I'm posting two chapters._**

**_ And no, Kay doesn't come to her rescue.  
_**

**The Substitute**

A blonde woman stood at the entrance of the alleyway. A man with spiky brown hair was with her.  
"MIB?" Wrinkly #1 spoke in surprise.  
Jane thought he resembled a chastised dog.  
"We didn't mean no harm." Wrinkly #2 spoke up, fidgeting nervously.

The blonde woman glared sternly at them. "Don't let it happen again, or else I'm calling your parents, and you will be on the first flight back to Narve. Are we clear?"

The two Narians nodded, and scuttled for the main street, thankful to be let off with a warning.

"Hey!" the spiky haired man called. The two miscreants stopped and looked at him. Spiky tossed the two human faces at them. "Put your faces on." Then he pointed at Jane. "She's off limits, understood?"

"Yessss, sssir." The cowed lizards hissed. Then they turned tail and fled.

"This happen often with you two?" Jane asked warily, nearly expecting the two suited people to take off their faces, or something nearly just as terrifying. She took a small step away from them.  
"On a daily basis, Jay." The blonde woman replied, donning a pair of sunglasses.  
"Did you just call me J?" Jane asked.  
"Yes." The blonde woman answered as she held up a neuralyser. "But you won't remember any of this."  
The last thought Jane had before the flash illuminated the entire alleyway was _That's one weird looking pen_.

#MIB#

"It's funny, Rex." Jane spoke over the phone, half an hour later.  
"I fail to see how this is amusing." Rex deadpanned.  
"Not that kind of funny. I meant unusual. I can't remember a single thing about walking home today."  
"You can't?" Rex sounded surprised.  
"Well, I remember leaving you at your apartment, but the rest is all fuzzy."  
"Do you think it's an amnesia relapse?"  
"Maybe. And I feel sore all over, as if I've just fought two gorillas or something." Jane rubbed her back absentmindedly.  
"Are you sure you're alright?"  
"Yes." Jane glanced at the calendar. "I'm just thankful it's the weekend."  
"Agreed. Well, get some rest, Jane. And stay away from creepy people."  
"Ha. Will do, Rex. Will do."

Jane, however, spent the whole weekend pondering over her missing memories, and a new vague one of a blonde woman calling her J.

#MIB#

"Jeebs."  
Jack Jeebs woke up with a start, and found himself staring at trench-coated man. "What do you want?" Jeebs snapped waspishly.  
"A long distance communicator. At least as far as the Reptilis Galaxy. Got any of those?"  
Jeebs looked slyly at the other man. "Hm. I don't know, those don't come chea-ack!"

Jeebs had stopped mid word, as a blue Gravlax arm had snaked out from the depths of the trench coat and wrapped itself around Jeebs' throat. Jeebs finally remembered where he had heard the voice before. "Alpha?" he choked out.  
"Indeed, Jeebs. Now, the communicator?"

As soon as Jeebs was let free, he started to search for the communicator.

"Make it snappy, Jeebs." Alpha drawled. "I believe I need to make a bargain with some Narians before the weekend finishes."

#MIB#

The newly elected leader of the Narian rebellion was in a horrible mood. Prince Rex had been effectively hidden on earth, and there wasn't an easy way for the rebellion to kidnap him. At least, not without bring the MIB down on their heads.

He scowled. He didn't need the brat alive, at least, not for long.

_Long enough to get the old king to give up his throne._ The Narian smiled nastily.

"Commander!" another Narian interrupted his thoughts.  
"What isss it?" the leader snapped.  
"We've received a call from earth. It's apparently from a bounty hunter. He says he has an offer for you."

#MIB#

Mondays. They were horrible.

There was one good thing, though. Blondie and Curly seemed to giving both Rex and Jane a wide berth, and kept on shooting Jane scared glances.

"Did you do something to them?" Rex asked, slightly concerned with the degree of fear and awe they seemed to be showing Jane. "Maybe on that Friday afternoon?"  
"Amnesia victim here, remember?"  
"Victim. Right." Rex rolled his eyes, grinning. "Well, whatever it is you did, I think it worked."

Jane would never tell this to Rex, but she had the inkling that she had indeed kicked their asses, and that she was almost overcome by an urge to call them the Wrinkly Twins. She had no idea why, though.

As the two bickered good naturedly, neither of them noticed that their usual science teacher wasn't sitting sternly at his desk, glaring at every student that dared to set foot inside his domain. Instead, that seat was empty. It was only when the rest of the class arrived that Jane and Rex finally stopped bantering, and looked at their science teacher.

_Kay._ The name popped up in Jane's mind. Then she frowned, desperately trying to remember more about where it had come from, but she came up with nothing.

"My name is Mr Kay." The brown haired man spoke in a very familiar baritone. "I am your science teacher for the remainder of the semester. Please take out your text books, and turn to page forty-seven."

_Who are you? Why do I feel like I know you?_ Jane found herself staring at the man.  
"Miss Evans." Said man spoke up.  
Jane jumped. _I really need to stop daydreaming._

"Would you care to tell me what refraction is?"

_Ugh. I really should have read that chapter._ Jane groaned inwardly.

The lesson had gotten worse as it progressed. Mr Kay picked on Jane for almost the whole lesson, and asked her questions she didn't know the answer to. Jane could see Rex shaking his head, and attempting to sign language what she assumed was the right answers to her. Unfortunately, Jane couldn't understand sign language.

#MIB#

"Man, that guy really has it out for you." Rex was still bent over one of his text books. He and Jane were sitting on the bleachers.  
"Tell me about it." Jane muttered quietly, watching the football players on the field. She glanced at Rex. "Do you ever stop studying?"  
"Not when finals are coming up." Rex grinned as Jane pulled a face at the mention of finals.

Jane continued to watch the players. "Have you ever tried out for the football team?"  
"Heck no. Mr Bookworm, remember?" Rex smiled sadly. "Besides, where I grew up, we- I mean I never played games like these."  
Jane studied Rex. "You _could_ try out. You know what? You _should._ It'll be fun."  
"Only if you try out for the cheerleading team, Evans." Rex looked at the three annoying cheerleaders who were currently waving pom poms about. There was no way Jane would ever join those idiots-

"Sure. It's a deal." Jane held out a hand for him to shake.  
"Jane, I wasn't serious-"  
"Well, I was."

Rex scrutinised Jane's hand, and then her expression. She was dead serious. Reluctantly, Rex shook Jane's hand.

"We're going to regret this, aren't we?"  
"Don't be so pessimistic, Rex."

#MIB#

"There's someone following us."  
"Jane, this isn't going to be like last Friday, is it?" Rex asked wearily, a sense of déjà vu filling him.  
"No." Jane dragged Rex towards a shop, and she pretended to look in the window. "Look at the reflection."  
Rex looked at the faint glass reflections. "Yes? Now what?"  
"That man there- the one by the phone booth, wearing the trench coat." Jane nodded discretely at the reflection.  
"What about him?" Rex asked, a tad nervously. _Please don't let this be a Narian rebel._  
"He's been following us since we entered town."  
"Are you sure?"  
"Positive."

Rex nearly turned to stare at the man, but stopped at the last minute. Meanwhile, Jane seemed to be digging through her bag, looking for something.

"Think you're up for a run?" Jane asked, without looking up.  
"Maybe. Why?" Rex really wanted to just call the MIB, or even just the police.  
"I want to make sure he's following us." Jane explained as she pulled out a pair of joggers.  
"That's reassuring."

From a distance, Alpha nearly laughed out loud. To think that two teenagers could ever believe to out run him. The cosmic integrator had done wonders for his sickly human body. Jane and Rex's conversation had been easily overheard.

Then the two teens rushed down the street, and Alpha followed. He just needed to capture Jay, and his mission would be complete. Alpha could then get back to working on his own business, not every whim of the Empress of Ignisia. Prince Rex was just a bonus – the Narian rebels were surprisingly generous in their deal.

#MIB#

"Jane!" Rex wheezed. "Wait up!" Rex was thankful for his alien background, or else there was no way he could have kept up with Jane.  
Jane stopped, and looked behind her at Rex. She also took the opportunity to look for the trench coated man. "I think we lost him."  
"Your…stamina….is amazing." Rex took several deep breaths, trying to get his breathing even.

"But unfortunately not good enough."  
Jane spun around, and found the trench coated man leaning casually against the wall, not even winded. "Don't look so surprised…Agent Jay."  
"Why does everyone call me _that_?" Jane threw her hands up in frustration. "My name is Jane! Jane Evans! Capiche?" She directed the last part at Alpha.  
"Jane!" Rex snapped. "Focus! Possibly evil guy right in front of you, remember?"

Alpha grinned. "Oh, believe me, young man, I'm very evil indeed." Then without warning, tentacles whipped out from underneath the trench coat, and to Jane's horror, wrapped themselves around both herself and Rex.

"What are you?" Rex twisted and turned in the tentacles, desperately trying to break free.  
"Let them go, Alpha." Kay's voice was accompanied with the sound of his gun powering up.  
"Mr Kay?!" Jane twisted around to look at the mouth of the alleyway, and stared at her substitute teacher. Rex stopped struggling, only long enough to look at Kay before resuming.

"Or else what, Kay?" Alpha smirked at his ex-partner. "You neuralysed Jay, so don't expect her to be any help. And this little prince here is as helpless as a symbiote without a host."  
_Prince? Neuralysed?_ Jane wondered if she was dreaming. _This is crazy. And it's only Monday. I'd hate to see Friday at this rate._


	6. Chapter 6 Fever

**_AN at end._**

**Fever**

"Evans!" Mr Kay yelled.

"What?" Jane yelled back.

"Concentrate and make fire!"

_Wut?_ "What do you mean?" Jane questioned, before Alpha tightened his coils and Jane cried out in pain.

"Let them go, Alpha!" Kay ordered, panic seeping into his voice.

"Oh, Kay." Alpha shook his head, and wagged a finger at him. "You should know by now, you can't save them." He backed away slowly, holding Jane and Rex in front of him. "I know you. You wouldn't open fire, not when there are innocents at risk. Especially not when your precious partner is in the way."

"Jane!" Rex twisted himself around until he faced her. "Just visualise burning this guy's fa-arrgh!" Alpha had tightened the tentacles around Rex.

"Rex!" Jane tried to scream. Tried. Her lungs couldn't draw in any more air. Rex screamed again.

A burning anger filled Jane. Nobody hurt her friends. Ever. The burn turned into a blue glow, and the next thing Jane knew, she had slipped free of the tentacles, and dropped unceremoniously on the ground. Ignoring her ribs, Jane drew in one shuddering breath, and her eyes focused on the blue flames that danced at her fingertips.

_When did that happen?_ She wondered idly, before frowning at the noise of (_what was his name? Alpha?_) someone screaming something that sounded vaguely like "Flooding Iguanas!"

("Bloody Ignisians!" Alpha screeched.)

_Oh._ Jane realised numbly as she caught sight of him. _His trench-coat's on fire. I might have done that._

Suddenly, Alpha turned to her with a murderous look. Jane's mind vaguely registered the fact that she was doomed, and that she didn't really care.

_Must be the lack of oxygen to my brain. _she mused as Alpha's tentacles picked her up again and this time, instead of squeezing, threw her into the wall. Jane heard something crack. _Probably my ribs._

Her vision started to blacken, and she heard Mr Kay cry out her name.

"Jane?" A face appeared in her field of vision.

The darkness, instead of blotting everything out, flitted at the edges, and threatened to overwhelm her vision. It took all of Jane's will-power to stay awake.

"R-Rex? Are you alright?" Jane wheezed.

#MIB#

As soon as Kay assessed the condition of Rex (_shaken, but unharmed, possibly more worried about Jay_), he realised that he couldn't afford to chase down Alpha. Right now, Jay's life was at risk.

"Prince Rex!" Kay commanded the young alien. "Make sure she doesn't fall asleep. Her life depends on it!"

"Yes, sir!" Rex replied. Then he asked curiously "Are you really from MIB?"

"Yes," Kay flashed his badge at Rex, "now keep Jay- Jane talking." He corrected himself.

As Rex hovered over Jay and began to talk to her, Kay pulled out his communicator. "Elle?"

"Kay?" Elle frowned at Kay's expression. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later, but tell Zed I need to bring Jay back to MIB-"

"Afraid we can't do that, Kay." Zed's voice suddenly cut into the communicator. "If Jay sets foot back in MIB Headquarters, we are required to turn her over to her aunt."

"She needs medical attention urgently, Zed." Kay growled impatiently. "And we can't just send her into a hospital."

Zed frowned, thinking. There had to be some loophole. "Don't worry, Kay."

"I'm not-" Kay started to protest.

"Not now, son." Zed put up a hand to stop Kay from arguing. "Right, now, you need to make sure Jay stays awake until help arrives."

"Already done that. Would you care to elaborate as to what exactly 'help' is?"

"It'll arrive in five minutes, tops." Then Zed hung up.

"Elle! X!" Zed called. "Prepare a medical van, and pick up Jay."

"Yes, sir." Elle answered. "Where should we take her?"

"First, make sure Jay's condition is stable,"  
Elle rolled her eyes at this. As if she didn't know that.  
Zed ignored her eye roll, "-then take her to the MIB living quarters. And take Troy and Zeeltor with you. They might come in handy."

"What about Kay?"

"Get Kay to bring Rex back to headquarters. We're going to need to update our security."

#MIB#

"Jane? Are you still awake?"

The logical side of Jane told her that Rex was only trying to help. The illogical side just wanted to sleep.

"B'gger off." She wheezed and her words slurred. Her ribs stung sharply every time she took a breath. "Why donchya annoy that science teacher for a while?"

"Jane!" Rex sounded scandalised.

"Sorry."

If things had continued the way they were (Rex unharmed, Jane suffering cracked ribs and a concussion, and Kay mentally tearing out his hair from worry), it probably would have went alright. Unfortunately, that was when the fever kicked in.

Rex noticed the sheen of sweat on Jane's forehead, and was quite alarmed. He tentatively put a hand to her forehead. "You're burning up."

When Jane made no reply, Rex looked closely into her eyes, and realised that they were glazed. "Jane? Jane? Jane!"

Jane started to shiver on the ground, and twitch uncontrollably.

"Mister Kay?" Rex called over his shoulder, his hands pinning Jane down, to stop her from injuring herself. "Kay!" he yelled, when Jane jerked, and nearly unseated him.

"…Kay…" Jane mumbled, her eyes wide open, seeing something that did not exist.

Kay had rushed over the moment he heard Rex call out. "What is it?"

"It's Jane, she's…" Rex trailed off as Kay took his spot by Jane's head.

"Jane?" Kay called softly, silently cursing Zeeltor's lack of imagination when it came to names. He hated that name, but it was possibly the only thing Jay would respond to at this point.

"…Kay?" Jane's fever-glazed eyes wandered before focusing on Kay's face.

_Thank goodness!_ Kay was slightly less worried.

"Do you know who I am?" Kay asked, looking into Jane's eyes. There was something different.

"W-what kind of stupid quest'n is tha'?" Jane slurred. "Course I know who you are. You're my partner. A-and why're you calling me Jane? It's such a… boring name."

Kay realised what had been different. When Kay looked in, Jane Evans wasn't looking back.

"Jay?" Kay breathed, incredulous.

"Why are you saying my name like that?" Jay was still shivering, but started to look annoyed. "And why am I on the ground?"

"Don't you remember?"

Jay started to shake her head, but the movement was stopped when Kay gently but firmly cupped her chin in one hand. "Don't try to move. You've been injured."

Jay blinked in confusion, then gasped in pain as she breathed in. "It hurts, Kay." She whimpered, tears of pain surfacing from her eyes.

"I know," Kay murmured softly, his hand now on her cheek. He wiped away a stray tear on Jay's cheek, "just hold on. Help is on the way."

Kay's communicator beeped.

"No! Don't leave me." Jay pleaded when he started to move away. Her hand reached up for him. Kay gripped her hand tightly, and fought back a wince when he felt her burn. This wasn't the usual type of fever-burn. This was a so-hot-that-it'll-sear-flesh-off-your-hands burn.

"Hush." He muttered as his other hand picked up the communicator. "I'm not going anywhere."

Rex watched the whole exchange with wide eyes. "Jane's from MIB too?"

"Yes." Kay answered bluntly.

"Kay?" Elle's voice issued from the communicator. "What's happening? Is Jay alright?"

"She isn't." Kay answered. "I'm not sure why, but a fever just set in. And it's hot enough to fry a few ducks."

"Oh dear." Zeeltor's voice joined Elle's. "That's very bad."

"What's bad?" Kay dreaded the answer. Whenever Zeeltor labelled something as 'bad', let alone 'very bad', the sh*t was going to hit the fan.

"I'm afraid Agent Jay has entered the second stage of maturation."

#MIB#

The only thing that Elle appreciated right now was X's crazy driving skills. After breaking at least fifty road rules and running three red lights, the black van screeched to a stop at the alleyway in record time (three minutes and thirty-two seconds).

Elle had rolled out a gurney as soon as the van stopped.

"Report. Now!" Elle ordered, as she eased the gurney under Jay's body.

"Hi, Elle." Jay grinned weakly.

"She remembers some parts." Kay explained at Elle's surprised look. "Not sure why."

Elle was busy checking Jay's vitals. "At least three cracked ribs." She muttered to herself as she gently prodded Jay's rib-cage, earning several hisses of pain.

"A concussion." She added to her list as she flashed a light into Jay's pupils. Elle placed a hand against Jay's forehead, and promptly jerked it away. "Ow! That burned!"

Zeeltor's voice floated from the van. "Did I mention that the second stage of a maturing Ignisian is a fever hot enough to melt iron?"

Elle glared at the van, then at Kay. "Hot enough to fry a few ducks my foot."

Kay shrugged, secretly thankful that he was no longer holding Jay's hand. "It wasn't that hot before."

As soon as Jay was securely inside the van, Elle turned to Kay. "Kay, you need to take Prince Rex back to HQ."

"She's my partner."

"Jane's my friend!"

Kay and Rex had spoken at the same time, albeit Rex was more vocal. They shared a look.

"We're not leaving her." Rex spoke for the both of them.

"Kay, Rex _needs_ to be back at headquarters." She snapped at Kay. "And it's for your own safety." She added to Rex.

When both males made no sign of backing down, Elle scowled. "I don't have time for this. Fine! You two can come." She started to climb into the van. At the double doors, she turned. "But if Zed decides to chew your head off, Kay, I get to say I told you so."

"Where are we going?" Rex asked as he clambered into the van.

"To the apartment of Jane Evans." Elle answered.

**_Author's Notes: Well, I've tried to write Alpha's character. How did I do?_**


	7. Chapter 7 Burn Baby Burn

_**Author's Notes: This has got to be one of the hardest chapters I've written.**_

_**I'm not a medical person, so I'm not sure if this is how you're supposed to treat injuries. Sorry for any mistakes.**_

**Burn, Baby, Burn**

The second stage.

It made the whole thing sound like a cheap video game. However, as Elle watched Zeeltor hovering over Jay and assessing the damage, it was nothing like a game.

Jay's ribs had been set, and she had been plugged into an IV to keep the fever down. As for the concussion, Zeeltor had placed a block of dry ice on Jay's forehead.

Elle and Rex had flinched violently, but Zeeltor quelled their protests, and explained that in Jay's current condition, the dry ice was an equivalent to a cool water bag. Right now, Jay was sleeping, but she was still twitching and mumbling in her sleep. Zeeltor finally came over to the four, holding a clipboard and with Troy peering over his shoulder.

"How is she?" Elle inquired, keeping her voice down. There was no need to wake Jay up.  
"Not very well, I'm afraid." Zeeltor flipped through his clipboard.  
"I thought Ignisians went through this sort of thing all the time." X frowned. "Shouldn't Jay be fine?"  
"Ah," Zeeltor shook a finger at X, "but even for Ignisians, this is considered a rite of passage. They usually have an 80% chance of successfully fighting back the fever."  
"But Jay's only half Ignisian." Rex started to look very worried.  
"Indeed," Zeeltor nodded at the prince, "so I believe that lowers her chances down to 40%. And given her current injuries, her chances will probably be around 30%."  
"Damn." Elle hissed. "What can we do?"  
"Not much." Zeeltor shrugged. "It's all up to Agent Jay now. Either she'll live, or she won't."

After that particular revelation, all sixth conscious occupants (the seventh was currently fighting for her life) scattered. Kay left the room without a word to anybody, and Elle and X left not that much later. Zeeltor shuffled away, muttering something about checking on Lucy, although not before he told Rex that he was welcome to read any of his books. Rex found himself next to Jay's bedside. Troy was now a part of Rex.

("You'll be a great body guard." Zeeltor had said, before handing Troy over to Rex.)

Before Rex sat down for his vigil, a book in Zeeltor's collection caught his eye – a book on Ignisian biology and culture.  
"Might as well find out about your background, hmm, Jane?" Rex talked aloud.  
Jay, or Jane, as Rex still called her, made no response, other than the usual mumble.  
"She's not going to answer, you know." Troy chattered from over Rex's shoulder, but shut up immediately from Rex's glare.

Rex pulled up a chair by the bed and began to read. Troy, with nothing better to do, looked over his shoulder.

#MIB#

Everything was shrouded in a white mist, as far as Jaime could see. She wasn't even sure if she was standing on anything. "Where am I?" she muttered aloud, straining to see beyond the mist. Despite the cool appearance of the mist, it was very warm and humid. Almost to an unbearable degree.  
"Hello, Jaime." A soft voice spoke up behind her.

Jaime whirled around, and found herself staring at what she could have mistaken as herself, if it weren't for a few differences.

First of all, the chin on the woman was more rounded, and not in a small sharp jawline, like Jaime's. And her eyes, they were several shades too dark. But Jaime had seen this face before, but only in photos.

"Mum?" she whispered. "Is it really you?"  
The woman smiled sadly. "I'm afraid I'm only a memory, Jaime."  
"Whose? I don't remember you-" Jaime started to say.  
"It's yours, Jaime." Jaime's Mother walked up to her, and gently tapped Jaime's forehead with a finger. "Deep down, you still remember me, don't you, Cha'ra?"

Jaime froze at the name. "Cha'ra." She repeated softly. "It was my name, wasn't it?"  
The older woman smiled and nodded. "You catch on quick." Then the memory hugged her daughter, and started to walk away.  
"Wait!" Jaime called at the memory. "Please don't leave!"  
Jaime's mother paused at the edge of the mist.  
"Why am I here? What am I supposed to do?" Jaime asked beseechingly. Then another thought occurred to her. "And Dad, if I remember you, why isn't he here?"  
"I cannot answer that. You must remember, Jaime. You must remember."

Then the mist rushed back in, and hid everything from view. The heat was back, and it was worse.

#MIB#

The mist dispersed, and a park came into view. The ever-present heat was still there. There were many children in the park. Jaime looked at the children, swinging on the swings, and climbing all over the play equipment. Then a small girl, who Jaime guessed to be around five years old, caught her eye. A pang of familiarity hit her.

The girl was away from all the other children, and was kneeling down at something. Jaime frowned curiously, and walked towards the girl, and around to see what she was holding.

The girl, oblivious to the grown up now standing before her, continued to do what she was doing – making a small bluebell dance around her fingers. Her chocolate brown eyes flickered with excitement.

_Oh._ Grown-up Jaime realised. _She's me._

"Jaime!" The voice made both the adult and the child turn in surprise.  
"Daddy!" young Jaime grinned, and proudly showed her father the flames that were now cupped in her tiny hands.

But instead of the look of pride Jaime expected to see, a look of despair spread over his features. "No. Not Cha'ra." He whispered.  
"Woah, hey!" Jaime said to the man. "You can't blame her for-"

The ground twisted beneath Jaime's feet, and she plummeted.

_My mind is so screwed._

#MIB#

"How is she?" Rex asked, as Zeeltor woke Jay up to check up on her concussion.

"Her head is fine." Zeeltor murmured as he flashed a light in her eyes, nodding in satisfaction when the pupils contracted. "But her fever has gone up."

#MIB#

Jaime knew the place. There was no mistaking the murky windows, or the shabby letters emblazoned across the front of the shop.

_Jeebs's Pawnshop_.

Jaime frowned at the sight of Cha'ra through the window, along with her father. She took a step closer to the closed door of the pawnshop, and stopped. Hesitantly, Jaime pressed a hand against the door, and let out a quiet "Oh!" in surprise when her hand went through the door. "Cool." Jaime grinned. "I've got ghost powers." She stepped into the pawnshop, and was just in time to see her father inject his daughter with a syringe filled with viscous green liquid.

"Yo! What was that?" Jaime demanded, although she knew by now that no-one would answer her. She looked at the occupants, and wasn't surprised to see that Jeebs hadn't changed a single bit.

Apparently, his tact with dealing with customers hadn't changed either. "Come on," he drawled in the same nasally voice, "pay up. Gene suppressors don't come cheap."

_Gene suppressors?_

Jaime's father payed Jeebs, somewhat reluctantly. "How long will it hold?"

"Till your little ankle-biter gets to her maturing age."

Cha'ra, who had been studying her arm, where the needle had gone in, looked up indignantly at being called an 'ankle-biter'.

"I'm not that small!" Both the older and younger Jaime snapped.

"I'm already five!" Cha'ra insisted, and Jaime nearly laughed. It was true – Jaime knew she had been small even as a child, and that smallness unfortunately followed her into adulthood. Cha'ra looked like a four year old.

#MIB#

The argument was nothing like a lover's spat.

"But Darla," Jaime's father was protesting, "she inherited those damned powers!"  
"Martin! These powers are nothing to be ashamed of!" Darla snapped back.  
"Now we're all in danger!" Martin growled.

Both parents were unaware of their daughter, who was huddled just beyond the kitchen, and was listening, tears welling up in her eyes. Grown-Up Jaime could guess how the child felt. Jaime frowned. The heat was getting worse, and mist had begun to flit at the edges of her vision. _I feel terrible._

The door to the kitchen slammed, and Martin stormed into the living room. He froze at the sight of little Jaime on the sofa, hugging her knees to her chest and tears streaming down her eyes.

"It's my fault, isn't it?" the little girl was quite different from the one Grown-Up Jaime had found in the park.

Martin's face softened. "Oh, Ch'ara." He reverted to calling Jaime by her given name in his distress. He sat down next to the little girl, and held his arms open. Jaime, or Ch'ara, scrambled into his arms, and buried her head in his shoulder.  
"It's not your fault." Martin rubbed soothing circles on Ch'ara's back.  
"B-but you and mum were fighting about me." She whispered into his shoulder. "What's going on?"  
It tore at Martin to hear his daughter so afraid. "We're going to move away from here, Ch'ara."  
"Away?"  
"Yes. Until it's over."

#MIB#

Zeeltor had returned, and now occupied the chair that Rex had previously been in. Troy had been transferred to the blue skinned alien. Troy was currently bringing up a point that he and Rex had thought of. "Why donchya just let me heal Jay?"  
"I really don't know." Zeeltor admitted. "There's an important reason for this. But I can't seem to remember." Zeeltor tapped the end of a pen against his chin, deep in thought.  
"But there's no harm in trying, right?" Troy continued. "Cause right now, Jay doesn't look so good."

"Troy!" Rex admonished as he returned to the room. "Can't you be a bit more sensitive?"  
"Come on, just let me try!" Troy was still pestering Zeeltor.  
Zeeltor gave in with a sigh. "Oh, alright. But I hope nothing will go wrong."

Zeeltor stretched out an arm towards Jay. Troy slid off his arm, and dropped onto Jay. The effect was instantaneous.

"Hey, this isn't so ba-YEEEOW!" Troy screeched and he was thrown off Jay's body by a burst of flame.  
"Troy!" Rex called out in concern. While the symbiote was annoying, he was almost endearing, like a silly little brother who did not know better.  
"Ow." Troy muttered as he slid up the arm offered by Rex.

Zeeltor was busy examining Jay.  
"Well?" Troy asked. "Has her fever gone down?"  
"No." Zeeltor answered. "But her concussion and cracked ribs are alright now." He added brightly.  
"That's good." Rex let out a sigh of relief. Now all Jane had to do was to fight the fever.

"I don't see why she had to burn me." Troy muttered under his breath, but his words were picked up by Zeeltor.  
"Oh, I remember now." Zeeltor grinned brightly. "That's because of her Ignisian biology – it's a defence mechanism for parasites."  
"I am not a parasite!" Troy protested.

#MIB#

"They've found us." Martin said to Darla.

A look of misery came over Darla's face. "So soon?" she asked. A look of resolve replaced the misery as she looked at her daughter, eyes wide open, and looking from one parent to another, trying to make sense of the situation. She had to stay strong for Ch'ara, if nothing else. "Then we'll go as we planned?"

It was Martin's turn to look stricken. "There's got to be another way."  
"Martin." Darla put up a hand to stop him from arguing. "If what you say is correct, we won't have much time."  
"I can't lose you." Martin whispered, tears threatening to come over his eyes.  
"But Ch'ara deserves the chance to live." Darla countered softly.

Martin nodded, reluctantly, then swept his wife into his arms in a bone-crushing embrace. "I love you."  
"I love you too." Darla told her husband, then crouched down to Ch'ara's eye level. "Ch'ara. I love you, and no matter what happens, remember that I am proud of my little princess."

The girl threw herself at her mother, as if she sensed that this was the last time that she would ever see her. "Look after your father for me." Darla stroked Ch'ara's hair.

"Good bye." Martin had picked Ch'ara up, and looked at his wife for the final time.

"Go." Darla said quietly. "Quickly, before they can come."

This time, a wave of heat washed away the scene, rather than the usual mist. Jaime was almost thankful – the heat seemed to dry her tears.

When the scene reformed, it was a very different one. Ch'ara looked older; instead of the five year old Jaime expected to see, the girl seemed to have aged a few years.

_Eleven? Twelve?_ Jaime couldn't be sure.

Ch'ara was alone in darkness. Grown-Up Jaime glanced uneasily at the eerie, yet familiar darkness. A faint memory of a look-alike strangling Jaime herself (who was wearing a business suit for some reason) flared up in Jaime's mind. The memory was accompanied by a feeling of coldness. Jaime shook off the memory, and paid more attention to the little girl huddled next to what appeared to be a wooden fence.

Ch'ara shivered and cried out in shock when a tendril detached itself from the darkness and reached for her. "No! Leave me alone!"  
The tendril payed no heed to her plea, and curled around her ankle, and jerked her towards the darkness.

A burst of green flames sent the darkness scattering, and it became clear where Ch'ara was.

The girl had somehow managed to run into a dead end in an alleyway.  
_Probably away from that shadowy stuff._ Jaime mused to herself. _Whatever it was. I wonder where did Dad-_

Martin was at the mouth of the alleyway, his face the very picture of worry. "Ch'ara!" he scooped up the memory girl in his arms.  
The girl sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder.  
"Hush," Martin rubbed his daughter's back, "it's alright, Ch'ara. I've got you now. The Shadows can't get you."  
The girl only whimpered into her father's shoulder.  
"Listen to me, Ch'ara," Martin continued, "and remember this – as long as you can find light within yourself, you'll be safe."

_Light?_ Jaime wondered. _Does he mean the fire?_

Before Jaime had time to wonder more, the scene blurred in front of her eyes, and she closed them. She really didn't need nausea on top of the unbearable heat.

When Jaime opened her eyes again, she was greeted with a very familiar face.  
"Aunt Rose!?" she gasped.

Martin was holding Ch'ara, and was talking to Rose. "Look after my daughter for me." He told her. "I need to go."  
"That's suicide! They'll catch you in hours!" Rose protested. "What about Ch'ara? Would you really leave her?"  
Martin sighed. "It's for her safety. That's why I'm entrusting her with you."  
"She'll remember, you know." Rose finally answered, not being able to come up with a good argument.

"No, she won't." Martin answered back as he put Ch'ara on the ground. "And neither will you."

A bright flash nearly blinded Jaime. A faint memory stirred in her mind. _Neuralyser. _Something whispered.

Martin stood up. "Rose Edwards, you have looked after your niece ever since she was a baby. You have cared for her as if she was your own." He looked at his daughter. "Ch'ara, you are now Jaime Darla Edwards." Martin swallowed, and struggled to get the next words out. "You are human. You do not remember anything of your parents. You have been raised by Aunt Rose your entire life."

Martin cast one last look at his daughter, and ran off into the night before he could lose his resolve. He never looked back.

And the heat hit unbearable waves.

#MIB#

_Beep. Beep._

"What's that noise?"

_Beep. Beep._

"Oh, no."


	8. Chapter 8 Awakening

_**Author's Notes: Jay's name switches between Jane, Jay, and Jaime, but is still essentially the same person.**_

**Awakening**

Troy rather felt like he was in a drama TV show as he and Rex watched helplessly as Zeeltor rushed around frantically at Jay's bedside. A few minutes later, the beeping stopped, and Troy could see Zeeltor visibly slumping in relief.

"There." Zeeltor announced in satisfaction. "She should be alright, provided her temperature doesn't spike again." Then Zeeltor walked away muttering to himself. "I wonder why it did rise so suddenly…"

Rex frowned. Zeeltor had brought up a good point. _Why indeed?_

#MIB#

Zeeltor had left the two, and Rex found himself immersed in the book again. There wasn't much that he could do for Jane at this point.

"Oh, look, here's a relevant part – the rite of passage for all Ignisians." Rex read aloud.  
"Ooh! What does it say?" Troy peered down at the text. "I can't read English." He explained when Rex glanced questioningly at him.

"Really?" Rex spoke in surprise. "I would have thought- never mind." Rex returned his gaze back to the book. "Where was I? Oh, yeah, rite of passage."

Rex cleared his throat. "Ahem." He began to read from the book. "All Ignisians, once they have reached around nine siglocks of age, will undergo a transformation. This transformation is often marked by a severe fever…"  
Troy rolled his eyes. "As if we didn't know that."  
Rex put the book down with a sigh. "You know what? You're right."  
"Why don't you find something that we don't know?" Troy asked, not unkindly.  
Rex nodded, and picked up the book again.

It was two minutes later that Rex had discovered something new. "Troy."  
"Hmm?"  
"Listen to this: Although most Ignisians pass this ordeal without much difficulty, there have been cases of Ignisians failing the rite. As of 2013, there have been two recorded cases of Ignisians dying on Earth."  
"Dying on earth? Who records that sort of stuff?" Troy interrupted.  
Rex read on. "In both cases, the Ignisians were admitted into…damn."  
"What?" Troy demanded. "Don't trail off, I can't read, remember?"  
"Troy, they were put into hospitals!"  
"And…?"  
"And they would have been treated for fever, wouldn't they? What if it's the medicine that's preventing Jane from fighting this?"  
"Oh. My…"

Before Troy could finish his sentence, the beeping started up again.

Zeeltor pattered back into the room. "Oh, no."

Much like the scene that had only happened ten minutes earlier, Zeeltor once again tried to lower Jay's fever, although this time, judging by the increasing look of despair on the usually chipper doctor, it wasn't working.

Finallly, Zeeltor stepped away from the makeshift bed.

"Well?" Troy demanded.  
His expression mournful, Zeeltor told them the news. "I'm afraid Jay isn't going to make it. She can't fight off the fever."

"No." Rex whispered in horror.

"I have to tell the others." Zeeltor made his way towards the door. "Watch over Jay for me, will you?" Then he left the room.

Rex wasted no time. He jumped up from the chair, and neatly unplugged the IV from Jane's wrist.

"What are you doing?!" Troy demanded. "I know what you read out earlier, but what if we're wrong?"  
"We've got nothing to lose." Rex answered simply, then swore under his breath as he realised that an alarm had started beeping as soon as he had unplugged the IV.

"How long do you think we have?" he asked Troy.  
"You mean before Kay skins us alive for accidentally-on-purpose murdering his girlfriend?"  
"Yeah, that-" Rex broke off. "What do you mean by '_girlfriend'_?!"

#MIB#

Jaime was being cooked, like an egg in a frying pan. Then suddenly, the heat receded, and she found breathing much easier.

"I see your friends have figured it out."  
Jaime spun around, and found her mother again. "I really hate it when you do that, Mum." Jaime's interest flared up after her initial shock. "Figured what out?"  
"That any sort of medicine is deadly for a maturing Ignisian."  
"…Pardon?"

Jaime's mother smiled, placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You'll understand once you wake up."

Then, this time, a gentle blue fog, unlike the suffocating white fog from before rolled in, and Darla disappeared.

Jaime frowned, as she felt a strangely familiar cold presence close to her. She looked around in the blue fog, and found three lights blinking back at her. Without warning, the blue smoke turned into a thick black smoke. Two of the lights – the yellow and one of the blues– were snuffed out, and Jaime felt a pang of loss. The last blue light twinkled bravely, but was overcome by the darkness.

_No._ Jaime had no idea why that thought even surfaced.

Then the darkness swirled away, and Jane Evans found herself surfacing into a world of light (and also a spectacular migraine), just in time to hear Rex talking to someone she didn't recognise.

#MIB#

TWENTY MINUTES AGO

Elle and X did not disappear off to MIB headquarters as Zeeltor had expected them to. Instead, they were looking for Kay, and found him on the bench looking out to the sea.

"This is where you recruited Jay, right?" Elle asked.  
Kay whipped around from the bench. He obviously wasn't expecting anyone else to join him.

Wordlessly, Elle and X sat down next to him, and joined him in his vigil. The three might have stayed there for longer, if it weren't for Kay's communicator beeping.

"Agent Kay?" Zeeltor called.  
"What is it, Zeeltor?" Kay spoke into the communicator.  
"I'm afraid I've got bad news." The doctor declared somberly.

Elle stiffened. _Oh, no._

"Jay's not going to make it." Zeeltor finished.

Elle watched as grief passed over Kay's face, before he clamped the emotion down. "How long?" he finally asked in a surprisingly steady voice.

"I can't say for sure," Zeeltor continued, "but I don't think she'll last the hour."  
"I'll be there." Kay promised, and he hung up.

When the three agents returned to the apartment, an unusual sight met their eyes. A cloud of opaque darkness swirled around the house, streaming into the street and pushing against the windows, as if trying to get inside.

_To Jay._ Elle realised in horror, and a cold feeling settle in the pit of her stomach.

By the time Elle finally recognised where she had felt the cold feeling before (from a certain evil Clone of Jay), the two men had already left the LTD, were on the road and scrutinising the shadow.

"No!" Elle yelled, exiting the LTD, and running to the two agents. "X! Kay! Get back in the LTD!"

The Shadow seemed to notice the three MIB agents out of the car, and before Elle could do so much as to blink, it left the house alone, and swirled ominously around the two.

Kay, in the flurry of movement, had somehow managed to avoid the Shadow, and was now on the sidewalk, looking at the large inky entity with a barely concealed look of horror.

Elle and X stood back to back, each holding their own guns. X fired, and the bolt that flew out from his gun was absorbed harmlessly by the Shadow. "Not good."  
"You think?!" Elle shot back.

Kay didn't manage to evade the Shadow for long – as quickly as it managed to trap Elle and X, Kay found himself surrounded by the inky darkness. The darkness rose, and blotted out the stars in the sky. "Elle!" Kay called out into the smothering darkness, "X!"

Distantly, he heard Elle's voice, but it was distorted, as if she was underwater. "Kay! We're over here-aaaahhh!"

Elle broke off with a scream, when she realised that while she was trying to talk to Kay, the Shadow hadn't _just_ closed in on the two of them, it had also wrapped a tendril around X's ankle, and was currently dragging him into the darkness. X himself was hanging limply in the Shadow's grasp.  
"X!" Elle dove forward, gripped X's hands and tugged as hard as she dared. She ignored the fact that his hands were icy and unnaturally cold.

Elle was so preoccupied with regaining X, she didn't notice that the Shadow had latched around her waist until she felt the shocking cold. It was tenfold the power of the Clone's, and Elle realised why X was currently unconscious. Within seconds, the cold reached her brain, and Elle was dead to the world.

Kay didn't do much better. A swirl of darkness latched onto his hand, before several more joined it. Not unlike what Elle had done merely seconds ago, Kay slumped to the ground.

In the house, Jane Evan's chocolate brown eyes snapped open, and she sat up with a start, breathing heavily. Ignoring Rex's protests that she was still recovering, Jane rolled off the bed, and jerked the curtains apart on the window.

And Rex gasped at the sight.

Shadows covered the entire street, and he could dimly make out the shapes of three figures suspended in the shadows.

Jane closed her eyes, and she sensed the coloured lights she had seen in her vision dimming even further. "They're dying." She whispered, still trying to get her breathing under control.  
_Save them!_ Jay ordered Jane to move.

"What?" Troy asked loudly.

Jane finally took notice of the other occupants of the room and bit back a shriek when what appeared to be a second head poked out from Rex's neck. The blue skinned being started towards her. "Agent Jay," he began, "stay calm. I can explain-"

Jane shook off snatches of memory that tried to surface, telling her that they could be trusted. "No," she shook her head, "later."

It was probably one of the most foolish things she had ever done, but Jane (or was it the mysterious woman called Jay egging her on?) pulled open the window anyway, and threw herself at the Shadows.

The Shadow recoiled from her, and Jane landed on asphalt, instead of the oily Shadow she had been expecting. The Shadow recovered, and began to swirl around Jane.

"Jane!" Rex called from the window.

"Close the window, Rex!" Jane yelled back, before looking at the Shadows swirling about her.

Jane closed her eyes. _Okay. Find the light. Find the light. Find the li-_

She broke off mid mantra when she realised that she was glowing with the same gentle blue flames that the memory girl (Jane distantly remembered that the girl's name was Ch'ara) had wielded.

The darkness fled before Jane's very eyes, but it wasn't fast enough. At this rate, the three people in the shadow would be dead by the time she reached them. And Jane could feel herself tiring. Rex was right after all – she was still recovering. Jay held onto the light with dogged determination.

_Feel it. Don't think about it._ A voice whispered from the recesses of Jane's mind.  
_How?_ Jane closed her eyes again, and gathered the flames around her, before spinning on the spot. The flames flew out in sharp slices, and the shadows fled.  
When she reopened her eyes, she was surprised to find that the Shadows were nowhere to be seen, and lying on the sidewalk and in the middle of the road, were two men and a woman dressed in business suits.  
_Check on Kay._ The same voice pestered Jane, even though she wanted nothing more than to collapse on the ground – creating the fire was a lot draining than she thought.

Jane staggered over to the man on the sidewalk, and she recognised him as her science teacher. The events that happened earlier in the day rushed back to her as she knelt down by him.

The trench coated man of many tentacles.  
_Alpha. _The voice piped up._  
_Mr Kay, the science teacher.  
_He's your partner._ The voice continued.  
Jane ignored the voice.

"Mr Kay?" Jane gently turned the man onto his back and watched his face for any signs of life. She wasn't disappointed.  
Kay groaned, and propped himself up on his elbows. "Jay?"  
_You happy now? He's fine._ Jane grouched at the voice. Aloud, Jane corrected him. "It's Jane Evans, teach."

Then, Jane's body decided that it was exhausted. Jane's eyes rolled back into her head, and she keeled forwards.

Her last thought before she slipped back into a healing sleep, was _Rex, you'd better have a good explanation for being called a prince._


	9. Chapter 9 Three's a Crowd

_**Author's Notes: In which Jay/Jane/Ch'ara/Jaime suffers a mild case of identity crisis. Features quotes from the first Men In Black film. And also features a whole bunch of (possibly inaccurate) science.  
**_

**Three's A Crowd**  
or:  
**Don't Even Get Me Started On Four**

When Jane had been told that she was really half alien, it wasn't surprising that she was sceptical. The blue skinned doctor had visited her while she was still bedridden from her encounter with the shadows.

"So," Jane had begun cautiously, still half expecting everything to be a hidden camera show, "if I'm really supposed to be an alien, how come I wasn't setting things on fire in my childhood? Why start now?"

"I have a theory for that." Zeeltor looked absolutely delighted at the thought of sharing his theory. All he needed was the invitation.

"Do tell." Jane had unwittingly provided the invitation. She had no concept of the onslaught of scientific mumbo-jumbo that was about to hit her over the head.

"I believe it was the gene suppressor you mentioned." Zeeltor explained. "I believe you said it could last you up to your maturing age?"

"Uh." Jane paused. "Something like that. What makes you so sure that seedy guy wasn't lying?"

"Jeebs may be a scumbag," Mr Kay, the substitute science teacher, informed from the doorway, "but he doesn't usually lie about merchandise that's been paid for."

Jane jumped. "How long have you been there?"

Zeeltor ignored the interruption, and held up a familiar looking syringe. "Did it look like this?"

Jane's attention returned to the alien, and then dropped to Zeeltor's hands. "Keep that thing away from me!"

"I'll take that as a yes." Zeeltor put the needle away. "Well, it wasn't an uncommon thing for aliens that looked similar to humans. You see, they'd inject their children with a gene suppressor, and presto! You have a human looking alien. Something similar happened to Clark Kent-"

"_Clark Kent?!_" Jane interrupted, unsure if she should be laughing hysterically, or staring incredulously.

"Yes, him." Zeeltor was as unsurprised as ever. "Anyway, the thing with gene suppressors, it acts like a stopper on a balloon."

Jane recovered enough to point out "Balloons don't have stoppers."

"Bear with me here."

"Oh, alright."

"As I was saying, your alien genes have, uh-" Zeeltor searched for the right word "suppressed, and it's been building up for all of your childhood. It's pretty much like a balloon being pumped full of air-"

"Are you saying I'm going to explode?" Jane cut in anxiously.

"Negatory." Zeeltor reassured her. "Only that your powers are going to get stronger and stronger and then reach it's peak, and then…well, I don't know. I've never seen a gene suppressor in action before." Suddenly, Zeeltor looked gleeful. "You wouldn't mind if I ran some tests, now, would you?"

Jane had jerked the blankets up to her chin at the gleeful grin. "Yes, I would mind very much!"

#MIB#

TWO WEEKS LATER

Jane looked in the mirror, and tugged at her own hair. After the crisis two weeks ago, Jane had noticed minor changes to herself. One, she had to resist the urge to pull her 'science substitute teacher' (who was apparently her partner in a secret organisation known as the MIB) in for a hug every time she saw him.

Two, her hair had changed.

It was originally curly, but right after her run-in with the stalker ("Alpha." Kay had corrected) and her near death experience ("Rite of passage." Troy, the blob of a head, had told her), it had straightened somewhat, and was now more wavy than curly.

"I'm guessing it's your alien genes poking through." The blue skinned alien (whom she later learned was called Zeeltor, her supposed 'uncle') had informed her.

Heck, she even had to live in a different place, although a part of her somehow knew the place as MIB Living Quarters. She was let into her old apartment, and was reintroduced to a bunch of yellow aliens who had referred to themselves as the worms.

Jane had a vague memory of Jay throwing a pillow at them.

She shook herself out of her thoughts. It seemed that the memories were returning quicker than ever, much to Zeeltor's delight. They appeared the most in Jane's dreams, and Elle easily confirmed that most of these 'dreams' did, in fact, happen.

"Your subconscious must be working to restore your memories." Zeeltor had mused.

The third thing was the little issue of firepower.

#MIB#

"For once," Jane made her thoughts known to Rex, "I wish I was normal."

Rex paused in his step. "What makes you say that, Jane?"

"I'm supposed to be Jane Evans. Plain, old Jane Evans." Jane could sense X following the two of them at a distance.

"But…?" Rex prompted.

"I feel like I'm some sort of president that must be protected, or something." Jane grumbled.

"Well," Rex began lightly, "unless you want to be kidnapped by your evil power-hungry aunt…"

Since Jane's memories of MIB were going to return anyway, Zed had agreed to let Jane in on the secret and the current threat out to get her – namely, a certain evil aunt who was out for her blood.

"Okay, okay." Jane backtracked. "I get the picture, your highness."

"Jane," Rex's smile dropped and he studied his friend, "are you alright?"

Jane forced a smile. "Of course I am. Peachy." _I've only got an evil empress to look out for, don't I?_

Rex smiled in return, but the smile was wiped off his face when he heard Jane's next words.

"You still haven't tried out for the football team, have you?" Jane hoped he would follow the change in topic.

"Well, I was hoping-" Rex started to say.

"That I'd forgotten about it?" Jane grinned, her good mood seemingly returning. "Not a chance."

#MIB#

"How was it?" Jane leaned casually against the lockers.

Rex glared slightly at Jane. "This is payback for not telling you that I was a prince, isn't it?"

Jane smiled innocently. "What makes you say that?"

"You're lucky." Rex grumbled.

Indeed, Jane had tried out for the cheerleading team, and to her surprise, she had gotten in easily. She was resigned to her fate of being stuck with the three giggling cheerleaders, until Principal Kline had stepped in, and Jane was taken off the team, on the account that she was a trouble maker.  
_Thank goodness for that._

"Jane?"

"Huh?" Jane zoned back into the present.

"Your cell phone is ringing." Rex pointed at her bag.

"Oh." Jane picked up the phone. "Evans here."

"Ah, Jane." Zeeltor was apparently the caller. "Can I see you in your quarters ASAP? There's a theory I want to test out."

_Another one? _"Sure thing, doc."Jane hung up and let out a sigh. "Duty calls." She said sullenly to Rex.

#MIB#

As soon as Jane set foot back inside her quarters, she was ambushed by Zeeltor, who was holding what appeared to be a baseball helmet with a haphazard arrangement of wires spiralling off the sides.

"There you are." Zeeltor grinned, and held the helmet over Jane's head. "Now, put this on for me, please."

Jane eyed the helmet warily. "What is that thing?"

"It's a brain scanner." Zeeltor explained, and Jane took the helmet.

"So, what was that theory you wanted to test out?" Jane asked as she put on the helmet.

Zeeltor plugged the helmet into his laptop. "I have reason to believe that your fire powers are related to telekinesis."

"Come again?" Jane frowned.

"I'll explain later." Zeeltor motioned for Jane to sit down.

Jane sat down on a chair, and jumped when Zeeltor set up a scanner in front of her.

"Now, create the flames." Zeeltor put on a pair of lab goggles, and retreated to a safe distance.

Jane briefly wondered if Zeeltor knew what he was doing, before she shrugged and decided to humour the doctor. A small bluebell formed easily in her hands.

Zeeltor studied the laptop screen. "Fascinating."

The blue bell flickered and died as Jane lost concentration. "What's fascinating?"

"These scans," Zeeltor turned the laptop around and showed a line graph to Jane, "indicate that your brain activity fluctuates with every combustion you create."

"In English…?" Jane couldn't make any sense out of Zeeltor's words.

"It's your brain power that creates the flames." Zeeltor explained, before looking at the results of the scanner. "Now, create those flames again."

Jane sighed, and another bluebell popped into existence.

"I thought so." Zeeltor looked like a child on Christmas day. "You _do_ have telekinesis after all."

"What?" Jane blinked, and the bluebell vanished. "I thought I could just create flames-"

"Yes," Zeeltor agreed, "you can. But the fire's got to come from somewhere, right?"

"Er…" Jane wondered if it was a trick question. "…Maybe?"

"It does." Zeeltor confirmed. "Somehow, you've managed to manipulate the oxygen atoms around you, and turn them into phosphorus particles, thus creating fire."

"Hold on a sec," Jane frowned, "are you saying that I've added protons to the oxygen atoms to recreate them into phosphorus atoms?"

"Not only that." Zeeltor grinned broadly. "You've also brought the surrounding oxygen atoms to act as an oxidising agent. Quite impressive, really. It takes a lot of concentration to do that."

"But doesn't that mean that the atoms are very unstable?" Jane looked panicked. "Wouldn't everyone around me suffer from radiation?"

"Amazingly, no." Zeeltor showed her a diagram of an atom. He pointed to the protons, then to the neutrons, and finally to the electrons. "These little guys here are held together by your willpower alone."

"Wow." Jane breathed.

"It is quite impressive." Zeeltor agreed.

"I was actually talking about me being able to keep up with your science talk." Jane admitted sheepishly.

"That too." Zeeltor conceded before he handed to Jane something made out of grey material.

Jane recognised it as the heat proof suit. "You fixed it?"

"Yes, I did." Zeeltor smiled proudly. "And I've made a few changes, too."

Jane held up the suit, and saw the changes. The suit was still the same dull grey, but it no longer had sleeves. The legs of the suit only went down to the calves, and the collar of the suit dipped down into a V-neck instead of the uncomfortable turtleneck horror it had previously been.

"You're quite the tailor." Jane complimented.

Zeeltor beamed at the praise. "It can withstand 2000 degrees, Celsius. That's about 3632 degrees Fahrenheit, by the way. So next time you decide to come rushing down into earth's atmosphere, you won't have to worry about being burned."

"Thanks, Zeeltor." Jane was sincere. She tucked the suit into her backpack, before returning her attention back to her powers. "I don't suppose you have any idea how I'm able to sense people?" she asked hopefully.

"At this point," Zeeltor explained, "not a definite idea yet. I suspect it has something to do with your telekinesis."

"My telekinesis?" Jane frowned. "Don't you mean telepathy?"

"Maybe." Zeeltor shrugged. "But I think it's because of telekinesis. When you, ah…_reach_ out, as you put it, with your powers, I believe it is your telekinesis getting a feel of the atoms around you. Now, whenever somebody moves, he or she disturbs all the molecules around them, right?"

"Right." Jane nodded.

"I'm guessing your powers are so sensitive that they can pick up on the movement, and…well, I'm not too sure what happens after that." Zeeltor seemed to be talking more to himself than to Jane. "Maybe your brain converts the movement into a tangible mental dimension that only you can access and comprehend-"

Jane glanced down at her watch, heart dropping. "Damn!"

"What's wrong?" Zeeltor looked at her in alarm, having snapped out of his tiny trip into the imaginations of his brain.

"I'm late!" Jane picked up her backpack, and rushed for the door.

"For what?" Zeeltor called after Jane, who was already on her way out.

"Sparring!" came the shouted reply. "Got to run, Zeeltor! See you later!"

Normal kids had other stuff to do after school. Some played sports. Others went to dancing lessons. Jane, however, had sparring lessons with MIB's finest. They said it was for her protection – although things seemed quiet now, there was no telling when Alpha might launch another attack on her.

Jane burst into the training hall, which was on the ground floor of MIB Living Quarters. Technically, it wasn't a part of MIB Headquarters, and weren't loopholes just _lovely_?

"You're late." Kay looked unimpressed and Jane wilted under his gaze. To Jane's relief, Kay didn't comment on her tardiness. "Let's begin."

Automatically, Jane fell into her beginning stance, the one that Kay had taught her over the two weeks. It was then that Jay realised that Kay wasn't preparing himself. Instead, he wheeled out a robot, which was nearly twice the size of himself.

"This," Kay tapped a finger against the robot, "is a training droid." Kay activated the droid, and the droid straightened, four lights appearing on its chest, and another four on its back. "See these lights?"

Jane nodded.

"You need to hit them to deactivate the droid." Kay explained.

"Looks easy." Jane observed the docile robot.

"It isn't." was Kay's only answer, before he spoke to the robot. "Voice Command: Agent Kay."

An electronic voice issued from the droid. "Voice recognition engaged."

"Level one." Kay instructed the droid, before he stepped over to Jane, and wrapped what appeared to be a bracelet around her wrist. "It's for the droid. It needs to know who's the target." He explained at Jane's perplexed look.

"That makes me feel so much better." She muttered sarcastically.

"Have fun." An almost smile appeared on Kay's face.

Before Jane could rack her brains for a memory of Kay actually smiling, the robot trundled forwards on treadmills.

Jane squeaked in surprise when one large robotic fist zoomed dangerously close to her, and she ducked out of the way. The droid was fast for its size, and Jane had to roll forwards to avoid another large fist slamming down into the ground, where she was just seconds ago.

Jane regained her footing, and found herself at the treadmills of the droid. Seizing the chance, Jane leapt up onto the robot's chest, and punched two of the lights with her hands.

The droid faltered, before flinging Jane off its chest, accompanied with a mechanical roar. The mechanical roar rang a bell in Jane's mind, and she froze on the ground as a memory appeared.

"_Keep your appendages where I can see them." Kay commanded._

_The low growl was the only warning that Jay and Kay got before Alpha and his damned tentacles got the better of them, by sending the two of them sprawling into the sewerage._

_Kay and Jay were left looking up at the shaft Alpha had escaped into while the two of them were preoccupied with picking themselves out of the sewerage._

Jane jerked herself back into the present, just in time to realise that the droid had swung another fist at her, and it was way too late to dodge. The impact knocked the air out of her lungs, and when she finally sat up, the droid was deactivated, and Kay was by her side, checking for injuries.

"Jay?" Kay slipped back into old habits. "Are you alright?" The reply surprised Kay.

"No!" Jay- no, Jane- snapped. "I'm not alright!"

Kay blinked, confused. "Jay…?"

"I'm. Not. Jay." Jane ground out. "I'm not even Jane, or Jaime, or whatever her name was."

Kay wisely chose to stay silent.

"I don't even know who I am anymore." Jane's voice dropped to a hoarse whisper, and for a moment, Jane looked just like the lost girl she was. "Look," her voice rose again, "I've had my _whole_ life, which is a lie in itself, turned upside down in the course of two weeks. Of course I'm not alright!"

"Jay-" Kay put a hand on her shoulder, and realised too late that he had called her by the wrong name.

"Don't call me that!" Jane, or whoever she was now, threw off Kay's hand, and ran out of the training hall. The door closed with a slam.

Jane ran. She didn't care where she was going. She just needed to get out of there, away from the place where Jay's memories were in full force. Finally, Jane paid attention to where she was going, and was surprised to find that her feet had taken her to the sea side. She also noted that the sky had darkened.

_When did it become night time?_

Jane sat down shakily at one of the benches that looked out to the sea. She closed her eyes, and let the sound of the waves lapping at the rocks soothe her. Another memory washed over her.

"_Why the big secret?" Jaime asked Kay. "People are smart. They can handle it."  
"A person is smart." Kay corrected, shaking his head. "People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals, and you know it."  
Jaime didn't answer him.  
"Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was the centre of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."_

The memory faded away, and Jane let out a sigh. "You loved her, didn't you?"

Kay, who had been standing behind Jane for some time, sat down next to her. He paused, searching for the right words.

"Never mind." Jane stopped Kay before he could say anything. "I don't want to know."

Kay sat patiently, and watched as a wave rolled in, gradually picking up slightly smaller waves before washing against the rocks.

"I'm sorry." Jane suddenly apologized.

"For what?"

"For not being Jay." Jane continued quietly. "I- I haven't been telling you everything about my memories."

Kay raised an eyebrow.

Jane took it as a sign to continue. "I have most of her memories, and Ch'ara's, and Jaime's. I can remember everything important. But I can't see any of them as me. I just can't. I don't know who I am anymore." Jane's voice hitched at the end, and she stopped talking.

"Then I'll wait."

Jane blinked away her tears and looked at Kay questioningly.

"I'll wait until you've decided who you are." Kay replied simply. The unspoken _'I'll be here for you when you're ready.'_ was quite clear.

Jane felt strangely comforted. "Hopefully longer than sunrise?" she joked weakly.

Kay gave her a flat look. _Don't ruin the moment._

"Right." Jane smiled through her tears. "Don't ruin the moment."

The two sat shoulder to shoulder, and they watched the sun rise.

Together.

_**Was that a bit OOC for Kay?**_


	10. Chapter 10 Stars

_**Author's Notes: Quick heads up: I'm going to be busy, so I'm updating ahead of schedule.**_

_**Chapter 10: Just a quiet little interlude.**_

**Stars**

There was something oddly comforting about watching the combustion of far off stars, especially if the face of the earth was not facing the sun at the time of observation.

Or in simpler, non-Zeeltor terms, watching stars was a nice thing to do at night.

Jane leaned forward from the bench on the rooftop, and she let out a sigh as rested her folded arms against the railing.

School had been particularly trying that week, what with the building up of assignments. Quite frankly, Jane was surprised that her powers hadn't boiled over like Mount Vesuvius. But she was glad for the control. At least this week, no one had to be neuralysed due to another accidental flare of fire (the last one resulted in glass beakers melting in her hands, and a lot of screaming from her unsuspecting schoolmates).

And she still wasn't sure if the flashy thing could cause permanent brain damage.

X claimed it would, but personally, Jane doubted his word. She also had a sinking suspicion that Jay might have asked the same thing at some point, probably to Kay.

Speaking of which…

"Do you guys happen to have a tracking device implanted under my skin or something?" Jane asked, genuinely (and morbidly) curious as she felt Kay's presence come closer. The summer breeze picked up again, and Jane breathed in deeply. The scent of an impending thunderstorm greeted her nose. She let her chin drop against her arms and closed her eyes.

"Do you really want to know the answer?" Kay drawled, and Jane recognised his tone as a teasing one. It was funny in a way – when she had first started talking to the man, she had thought all the tones he were capable of were monotones, sarcasm, and more monotones. There was more than that.

Kay's voice had many different layers to it, and if Jane listened properly, she would be able to pick them out. Most people couldn't. There was his teasing monotone. Then there was the unimpressed monotone (Jane noted that Kay seemed to use that the most around the other high-schoolers). And there was also the wry tone, but Jane hadn't really heard him use it much.

Jay, however, was a different story. Jane idly realised that if she thought hard about it, she would be able to dredge up memories of when Jay and Kay were in extreme peril, and Kay would use the wry tone to temporarily confuse whoever (or whatever) was menacing the duo.

It usually worked, and the two would end up escaping by the skin of their teeth.

"Hm." Jane pretended to consider her response to Kay's question. "Maybe not."

Jane sighed again. Jay and Kay really worked well together. _Pity I'm not her, then._  
_Ah,_ a certain part of her mind argued, _but you remember well enough to know how Kay thinks._  
_Then I would be able to a psychology paper on his mind, wouldn't I?_ She thought back scathingly.

An image of Jane handing in an essay titled 'The Handbook For Managing Grumpy Partners' to a figure that was a mix of Principle Kline and Zed popped into her mind, and she let out a giggle.

"Something you find amusing?" Kay deadpanned.

Not quite wiping the grin off her face, Jane responded with a quick, and hopefully innocent "Nope."

Kay rolled his eyes.

Apparently her response was not as innocent as she would have liked. However, Kay did not push the issue.

"How was Elle?" Jane asked. "Why was she hovering about the bottom of the stairs?"

"You sensed her from all the way up here?" Kay's eyebrow raised slightly, the only indication that he was surprised. "Impressive."

Jane shrugged off the praise, but a small blush appeared. "So, what did she want?"

"To give you this." At these words, Kay thrust a small plushie at her. "It was yours." He added as an explanation.

Jane's lips quirked in suppressed mirth as she looked at the odd sight of Kay holding out the plushie. "I liked plushies?" (Although Jane would never admit this to anyone, she _still_ liked plushies.)

"Yes." Kay seemed to be fighting the urge to fling the fuzzy monstrosity off the roof, and let it fall out of sight. "Though I could never figure out why you did."

Jane took the plushie from Kay. "But you've got admit," she murmured as she studied the cat plushie with blue eyes, "it's kinda cute."

_Wait. Blue eyes?_ Jane's eyes widened as she remembered carrying around a brown tabby cat that was just a bit too smart for a regular feline. And the fact that she remembered calling it 'K-Kitty'? That was just icing on the cake. _Oh, Elle. You're evil, you know that?_

And _damn it _she had called the fuzzy cat _cute_. If Jane claimed she wasn't blushing before, there was no way she could pull off the rosiness of her cheeks as a healthy glow.

Kay was gentlemanly enough to not point it out. Instead, he dropped down on the bench without his usual gracefulness, the one that Jane secretly admired. Kay hefted the golf bag he was carrying off his shoulder and leaned it against the bench.

It was then that Jane noticed that Kay's presence was not as bright as usual. "Tired?" Jane asked.

"Hm." Kay made a noise of vague agreement.

"You could go back into the living quarters, you know." Jane remarked lightly.

"Supposed to be watching you." Even as Kay spoke, he covered a yawn.

"I'm on a rooftop. What could possibly happen? Actually, don't answer that." Jane eyed Kay yawning curiously. "I don't think I've ever seen you actually sleep."

"Good." Kay retorted.

"When was the last you slept?" Jane couldn't help but worry. Just how did Kay function, anyway? Would he keep going until he dropped? Or would he sneak in (excuse the pun) cat naps in between?

"…Three days ago."

"You hesitated."

Kay sighed, and ran a hand over his face. Jane blinked in surprise. That was the most human action Jane had ever seen him do (Jay, once again, was a different story, and right now, Jane wasn't too bothered about Jay and the slightly more…affectionate acts between the two agents).

"Kaaay." Jane prodded the man next to her gently.

"Hm?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You're a terrible liar."

"Really? I was under the impression that I was quite adept at the art."

"_Was_." Jane emphasized. "You're losing your touch, old man." She teased.

Kay stiffened, and Jane did the same when she realised what word he had stiffened at.

"Are you," Jane looked incredulously at the MiB agent, "worried about your age?"

"No." he answered quickly. _Not in the way you think, Jay._

_He answered too quickly._ Jane bit her lip guiltily. And to think, this was probably the first time the two had ever just sat and made small talk. _Nice job ruining the atmosphere, Evans._

"Er," Jane began awkwardly, trying to fill the silence, "…you play golf?"

"Yes." Kay's tone was once again a monotone, and Jane could hear a vein of defensiveness running through it.

"Oh! Is that why you came up here?" Jane asked.

"Partially." Kay replied. "Why are you up here?"

"Stargazing." Jane explained, slightly relieved that the conversation was rolling again. "Or 'observing the combustion of stars', in Zeeltor's words."

Kay let out a snort of amusement, and the two settled into silence again, except it was more companionable.

Jane didn't mind the silence this time – her mind was going over the quick exchange of words just a few seconds ago. The very idea of dignified and upper-classed Kay suffering from a midlife crisis was too amusing. After all, just how old was the man anyway? He couldn't have been more thirty.

Jane frowned at her own thoughts. _Wait. Why am I worried about his age anyway?_

_After all,_ Jane reasoned, _he's a perfectly nice guy, even if he can be a bit…granite-y. _Absentmindedly, her fingers stroked the plushie cat.  
_Anyway, look at him. _Jane looked at Kay, who had, in the meantime, hit a few golf balls off the roof. _He's in his prime. He really shouldn't be worried-_

Kay swung the golf club again, a perfect smooth movement, his strong jawline, powerful muscles rippling under his shirt-

And Jane's breath caught in her throat.

She enjoyed his sense of humour, no matter how dry it was.

She found his chivalry adorable (and it was definitely well appreciated).

She even analysed his voice.

Realisation hit her over the head with the subtlety of a frypan.

This time, Jane realised suddenly, it wasn't Jay's feelings at work.

These were _hers_. _She_ had noticed the tiny details that most people missed about Kay. And she hadn't used Jay's memories at all, at least, not in the noticing process.

Jane Evans was head over heels and up to the gills. In _love_.

A small part of Jane idly mused that somewhere in her id, Jay of MiB was probably falling over with laughter, and crowing _I told you so! _triumphantly.

The rest of Jane was flustered. _Oh, good grief. I'm in love. With Kay. Oh_, "Stars above!" Jane clapped a hand over her own mouth when she realised she said the last two words out loud.

Kay looked up from the golf ball, startled. "They tend to be."

Jane nearly giggled hysterically. _Of all the times for his humour to show up- No, no, no. Quick! Leave before you make a fool of yourself. Make up a lie!_

"I, uh…" Jane stammered, mind racing to come up with a plausible excuse.

"Yes?" Kay looked bemused.

"I've got a paper due tomorrow!" Jane blurted out, then darted down the stairs. A flustered "Good night!" drifted up the stairwell. The cat plushie was left forgotten on the bench.

Kay watched Jane leave. He shook his head. Of course, Jay- Jane's lie would have been more believable if the next day wasn't Saturday.

Shaking his head again, Kay sat back down at the bench, before he noticed the plushie. He glanced towards the stairs, absolutely confused. _Did I do something?_

Sighing, he absentmindedly copied the pose Jane was in earlier – arms folded on the railing, chin resting on top – and remembered something his father had said to him a long time ago.

_You were right, pop._ Kay let a small smile appear. _Women are confusing._


	11. Chapter 11 Sink Or Swim

_**Author's Notes: Finally, some action in this week's chapter.**_

**Sink Or Swim**

Jane avoided Kay like the plague.

In the next week that followed, Kay rarely caught glimpses of his old partner, and even when she did show up to science classes, she slunk into the back row. She had even disappeared in the afternoons, and the worms also visited often.

It puzzled Kay to no end. It was definitely a new feeling. He couldn't help but wonder if he had done anything to offend her, and if he did, what in the world was it?

Elle had merely smiled and said something along the lines of "not your fault" and "teens. You know how they are."

Which left Kay more bemused than ever.

It wasn't until a week later, when Zeeltor had told his need to test out a few theories again, that Kay finally managed to talk to Jane properly. And he was determined to find out just exactly what was wrong with Jane.

"It's definitely not 'teen' trouble." Kay mused aloud to the plushie cat, who had gained a place of honour by his bedside table after Jane failed to reclaim it from the rooftop.

The plushie cat remained silent.

"Think taking her back to the bench by the beach is a good idea?"

The plushie cat stared back.

"She'll probably be more willing to talk in somewhere familiar, yes?"

Suddenly, Kay felt very, very tired. He was talking to a _plush toy_.

It had been a _very_ long week.

#MIB#

Jane closed her eyes.

"Good, good." Zeeltor spoke softly. "Now think about the atoms surrounding you."

_Breathe in. And out. Think about atoms._

"Now," Zeeltor continued, "imagine adding protons to the oxygen atoms around you."

A bright wave of blue flames coated Jane from head to feet.

"That's it." Zeeltor encouraged. "Keep it up-"

The flames disappeared and Jane fell on all fours, trembling in exertion. Zeeltor sighed as Kay helped Jane up and seated her into a chair.

"It's no good, doc." Jane was just as disappointed. "I don't think I'll ever get the hang of this."

"What about that night with those shadows?" Kay questioned.

"That was different." Jane protested, shooting a tired glance at him.

"How so?" Kay was persistent.

Jane's gaze dropped to her lap. "You were in danger."

Kay wasn't sure what to say.

Zeeltor cleared his throat, and both Kay and Jane were secretly relieved. "Just one more thing before you go, Jane." Zeeltor placed a diamond ring in front of Jane.

Jane shared a bemused look with Kay.

Kay shrugged. _I had nothing to do with it._

"Uh…" Jane hesitated, not sure what exactly Zeeltor wanted her to do. "…Sorry, but you're not my type?"

"Hm?" Zeeltor seemed just as confused. Then he realised what Jane had thought. "Oh, it's nothing like that, Jane. You see, diamond is pure carbon, and I wanted to see if your telekinesis could manipulate other elements. Try to move it."

"Oh." Jane felt rather stupid, but she brushed off the feeling and concentrated on the carbon atoms inside the diamond.

The diamond did move. Or rather, all the atoms in the diamond moved away, all in different directions, and made a small explosion. Everything in the room was covered with a fine layer of…

"Crushed diamond." Zeeltor observed the dust under his microscope. "Would you look at that."

Jane grinned sheepishly. "Guess my powers need contro-"

Before Jane could finish her sentence, a plain diamondless ring dropped with a clatter on the table. Kay glanced at the ring before continuing on his original course – out of the room. When Jane made no move to follow, Kay turned around. "I'll wait in the LTD."

Jane blinked in surprise. _The LTD? Why?_ But she nodded anyway, and Kay left.

"Uh, doc?" Jane asked tentatively as soon as Kay was out of earshot. "Is there a way to tell which one of my parents was the alien?"

"Well," Zeeltor pondered the question, "no. Why do you ask?"

"Some things aren't adding up – my mother was the one to stay behind, yet my father managed to wipe my memories, and it wasn't with a neuralyser." Jane explained. "I'm pretty sure a human can't do that."

"Oh?" Zeeltor asked. "Would you like me to see if I can find any mentions of your family in the MIB database?"

"Yeah, about that," Jane grinned sheepishly, "I've already got the worms to do that, and no, I couldn't find any trace of them."

"Don't ask." Jane added when she saw Zeeltor beginning to form a question, possibly along the lines of "How did the worms even manage to _type_?"

"Hm." Zeeltor tapped the rubber end of his pencil against his chin. "This is quite the mystery."

"I was hoping you'd have a way of telling…" Jane trailed off, and shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Thanks anyway, doc."

As Jane was about to leave the room, Zeeltor suddenly spoke up. "Oh, I almost forgot."

Jane looked expectantly at him.

"I've calculated the possible amount of the gene suppressing agent you were injected with," Zeeltor began, "and I think I know when your powers are going to peak."

"And?" Jane prompted.

"I have good reason to believe it's going to be in six days." Zeeltor finished. "That's your real birthday, by the way."

"My birthday?" Jane echoed. "Oh!" she realised. "My eighteenth." Then she frowned, as another thought occurred to her. "Speaking of which," she continued carefully, "have you managed to figure out why I have extra memories?"

"Oh, that?" Zeeltor made it sound as if Jane had just asked him what one plus one equalled to. "You see, Ignisians reach maturity quicker than humans, and their…prime years, so to speak, last longer than a human's also. It's no surprise that your father had you to pretend to be older than you really are."

Jane blinked. "Are you saying…" Jane swallowed, and continued slowly, "are you saying that I've been worried about my age for. Absolutely. Freakin'. Nothing!?"

"Your age? Yes, it was nothing worth worrying about." Zeeltor was oblivious to Jane's frustration. "Your memories? Well, you're right to worry about those."

Jane groaned, and made her way towards the door. "Thanks for the intel, doc."

#MIB#

Kay had known that the bench by the seaside was one of Jay's favourite spots. It was quiet, and out of the way, especially if she needed a moment alone. As for Jane, he wasn't too sure.

He did know one thing, though – Jane seemed to find the sound of waves crashing against the rocks soothing. Bearing that particular fact in mind, Kay figured if there was any place Jane could relax, it was probably the seaside.

Kay glanced at Jane, and saw that her eyes were closed. A small smile hovered about her lips.

Kay bit back the question he had wanted to ask. Jane seemed happy, for the first time in a week, and Kay didn't have the heart to disturb her.

_I'll give her ten minutes._ Kay decided. Then, he would get a few answers.

Hopefully.

Unfortunately, five minutes into the original ten minutes, Kay's communicator buzzed.

"Kay? It's Zed." Zed's voice floated out from the communicator.

For some reason, Jane found his voice to be unsettling, and shuddered.

Kay looked at Jane curiously, but answered the call. "What is it?"

"We got an anonymous tip about suspicious activity in the new tunnel at the Hudson river. Apparently, it's a bug problem." Zed continued.

"Zed, I'm watching Jane right now," Kay argued, "isn't there someone else that can check it out?"

"It was not a suggestion, Kay." Zed ordered. "Take Jay with you."

The call ended abruptly.

"He doesn't feel right." Jane said suddenly.

"Pardon?" Kay frowned.

"His light." Jane replied simply.

" 'Light'?" Kay echoed.

"It's…it's hard to explain." Jane searched for the right words. "Your light, for example. It's blue, like Elle's, and every other human's. But X's is yellow, just like Rex's."

"What's wrong with Zed's?"

"It's also blue, but…" Jane trailed off.

"What's wrong with it?" Kay repeated.

"It's covered in shadows." Jane finished quietly.

#MIB#

Against his better judgement, Kay took Jane with him to the tunnel.

"Whatever you do," Kay instructed, "stay close, and stay behind me. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Jane nodded. "But I have a bad feeling about this."

Personally, Kay had the same sense of foreboding, but he clamped down the feeling, and entered the construction site.

…

Jane was jumpy. There was no doubt about that. Every few seconds, she looked over her shoulder, and checked for giant space bugs. She suppressed a shudder as she looked at the walls of the tunnel, and the thought of kilograms of kilograms of water all pressing down on the admittedly unsteady looking walls appeared in her mind.

A small rock (it wasn't really a rock, it was more of a clump of dirt) dropped on her head, and Jane's head whipped up, towards the place where the dirt clump had originated from.

A bundle of building materials was hanging above the two from a crane, and by the looks of it, it had been abandoned by the workers.

_Possibly when they ran away from the bugs._ Jane mused, before she realised that if that was indeed the case, why on earth would an undisturbed bundle suddenly drop dirt on her head?

The creak of the crane was her only warning before Jane realised what was going to happen. "Kay!" she shrieked. "Look up!"

Kay glanced up, took in the situation, and dove forwards out of the shadow of the falling bundle as Jane scrambled backwards to evade the building materials. By the time the dust settled, and Jane coughed to clear her airway, the building materials had blocked her off from Kay.

"Kay?" Jane called through the haze, and strained for an answer. When she didn't hear a reply, Jane closed her eyes and sought out Kay's presence.

_There he is._ Jane let out a sigh of relief as a familiar blue light twinkled beyond the building materials. Jane frowned when she felt a presence behind her, and she turned around, eyes still closed, and was greeted with a not quite blue light.

The main part of the light was still blue, but it was mottled with a sickly yellow and it was shrouded in shadows. _Almost like a human with alien parts…_

Jane's eyes flew open, and she backed up against the building materials in panic as she looked at the owner of the light.

"Alpha." Jane breathed.

Said man-alien stepped out of the dusty haze and into full view.

Jane searched her memories, and finally found something to say to delay the approaching man. "You're agent A, aren't you?"

"A lifetime ago, yes." Alpha didn't pause in his advancement.

"What happened to you?" Jane blurted out the question, and nearly winced, as even to herself, the question had come out as an obvious attempt to delay for time.

"How do you mean?" Alpha smiled, as if he wanted to humour her.

"You're… surrounded by shadows."

"Oh, this? Just a little something I picked up in the G60 sector." Alpha explained casually. "Your home world, to be precise." He added as an afterthought.

"My home world is earth, Tentacles." An inexplicable anger welled up at Alpha's words.

"That's a new name. I haven't heard that one before." Alpha continued casually. "You always were creative with names."

Jane finally remembered where she had seen similar shadows before. "Zed."

"What about him?" Alpha finally paused.

"What have you done to him?" Jane demanded. "He's like you, but with less darkness."

"Oh, him?" Alpha smiled. "He's about to tell the Empress of Ignisia how to find you."

Jane froze, and remembered the faint glimmer of blue that she had seen in Alpha. "Agent A's still in there. Look inside yourself, A, and fight the shadows." She pleaded.

Alpha stepped closer, and Jane realised, with a thrill of horror, that the shadows had completely swallowed him. The trench-coated man blinked, and when he reopened his eyes, they were bright yellow. He spoke in a low sibilant hiss. "He's gone. But I'm here now. And I must say I expected you to be taller, dear niece of mine."

Jane froze. _That's my only other living relative. My family is __**so**__ messed up. _"Got a problem with my height?" she shot back hotly, having gotten over her initial fear.

"Quite the little spitfire, aren't we?" Alpha-the-marionette-controlled-by-evil-aunt stepped closer. Jane gulped nervously as she watched the darkness ooze out from Alpha, and stretch towards her.

"Why did you infect A?" Jane was now completely backed up against the building materials. "What did he ever do to you?"

"Nothing." The Not-Alpha shrugged. "He just happened to be there. I believe he was on a solo mission."

"Do you have," Jane growled, thinking of Kay and his issues (and she meant that in the nicest way possible), "any idea how many lives you've ruined?"

"Who knows?" Not-Alpha shrugged. "Who cares?"

_You b*tch._ Jane insulted mentally.

Not-Alpha stopped a few steps away from Jane. "Any last words?"

Jane grinned, much to the Empress' surprise. "One. Duck."

The Empress never saw or sensed Kay sneaking up behind her, and much less did she notice that he had aimed the de-atomizer at her back.

The Empress blinked, and for one moment, Alpha looked at Jane. Then, the shot struck Alpha squarely in the back, and he fell.

"Nice distraction, Jane." Kay complimented, and stepped over to the still form of Alpha.

Jane looked at the device he held in his hand.

"It's an Electrical Pulse Containment Unit." Kay explained. "Should keep him down until we get back to headquarters."

It appeared that it would take more than a shot from a de-atomizer to keep Alpha down. Before Kay could place the device on Alpha, Alpha rolled onto his back, and one tentacle swiped at Kay. The tentacle knocked Kay off his feet, and the Electrical Pulse Containment Unit disappeared into the darkness with a clatter. Once again, the dust rose in great clouds.

Then, before Kay could get back onto his feet, Alpha flung himself at the MiB agent, and the two of them rolled into the dusty haze, in the direction where the Electrical Pulse Containment Unit had disappeared.

"Kay!" Jane cried out in alarm, before rushing into the dust and after him. She was stopped in her tracks when a crackle of electricity lit up two silhouettes in the dust – one was a misshapen hulking figure, and the other more human shape was where the crackle of electricity had come from.

"Get away from him!" Jane snarled at Alpha, and to her surprise, he slipped out of sight. She rushed to Kay's side, and froze at the sight of the Electrical Pulse Containment Unit still sparking, and on Kay's stomach. Jane lit up one of her hands with fire, and gritted her teeth before reaching down to grab the Electrical Pulse Containment Unit. She ignored the electricity running up her arm, and wrenched the device off Kay, before melting it into a puddle of plastic and metal. Kay shifted slightly on the ground in front of her, and Jane let out a sigh of relief. The relief didn't last long.

A soft clatter sounded behind Jane, and she spun on the spot.

Alpha had taken advantage of Jane's worry for Kay, and had somehow made his way behind her.

"One down," Alpha stepped towards Jane, "one to go." He was answered with a sharp motion that Jane made towards him – punching her fist towards his face.

It was quite a ridiculous sight, at first glance.

Jane was hovering protectively over Kay, and they were both at least two metres away from Alpha. No matter how long Jane might have wanted her arms to be, there was no way that punch could have reached Alpha.

It would have been ridiculous, if it weren't for the blast of pure oxygen that accompanied the punch. Alpha recoiled, as he had been expecting a blast of fire.

As a result, dust swirled up around Jane and Kay, and hid the two of them from view. Alpha snarled when he realised that he had been tricked – it wasn't an attack that Jane had in mind, it was actually retreat.

Sure enough, by the time the dust cleared slightly, the two were nowhere in sight.

#MIB#

"Come on, Kay," Jane gently tapped Kay's cheek, "now would be an excellent time to wake up."

Kay was still out cold. His pulse was slow, but steady. _What's wrong with him?_ The faintest twinges of worry rose before Jane clamped it down. _Now's really not the time to panic._

Right now, the largest thing that deserved her attention the most was the fact that Alpha was prowling just a few metres away from where Jane had dragged Kay, behind another pile of building materials, and between the tunnel wall. It was a temporary hiding place, and Jane knew it wouldn't be long until Alpha found them.

Jane looked away from Kay, and peered around the pile. She stifled a squawk of surprise when _something _grabbed her wrist. Jane closed her eyes, and waited for the _something_ (it was probably one of Alpha's tentacles) to drag her out into the open.

It didn't.

Jane cracked open an eyelid, and realised that the _something_ was actually Kay's hand.

Kay's eyes were barely open. Grimacing, he tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down by Jane.

"What happened?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Electric pulse thingy hit the wrong target," Jane whispered back as she looked around the pile again, "and now we're playing hide-and-seek."

"Right." Kay winced as all his muscles twinged. _Nerve damage._ he diagnosed himself as he held up a hand, and watched his own hand shake.

Jane jumped in surprise yet again when Kay pressed something into her hands.

She looked at the object. "A peashooter?" she asked sceptically.

"Banjovian Blow Gun." Kay corrected automatically.

"It's going take more than this to take Alpha down." Jane looked at the small gun.

"Aim for the tunnel wall behind him." Kay instructed.

"Got it." Jane offered Kay a thumbs up, and closed her eyes to search for Alpha's presence.

_There he is. _Jane's eyes snapped open, and she stood up, turning to the spot where Alpha was.

Alpha should have realised that while Jay might have been impulsive, she wasn't stupid. This thought didn't register in his mind until the wall behind him exploded, and water rushed in from the Hudson River.

Meanwhile, Jane slung Kay's arm over her shoulders, and the two staggered over to a nearby crane. Jane sent a small burst of flames at the steel rope suspending several metal beams. She gripped Kay's hand tightly in her left hand, and her right held onto the severed end of the steel rope. The two shot up towards the ceiling, barely avoiding the gush of water that swept away the building materials below.

Kay watched as cracks spider-webbed the ceiling, and water started pouring through. Water that was coming their way at a very fast pace. The large wave knocked Jane and Kay into the water.

Jane plummeted into the icy water, and surfaced, gasping for air. "Kay!" she knew he would be in no shape to swim by himself.

"Slick!" the voice came from behind Jane, "Look out!"

Jane glanced behind herself, and caught sight of Kay's head bobbing up and down in the waves. Then the 'Look out!' part of Kay's previous sentence was finally comprehended by her brain, and she looked up just as the ceiling caved in. Jane's grunt was muffled by the water as the falling debris dropped onto both herself and Kay.

Jane's head throbbed from a piece of debris that had landed squarely on her head, but her mind wasn't focused on the pain. It was more interested in the name Kay had called her. Like a dam breaking, all the memories of Jay rushed into Jane's head.

"_Morning, Slick."  
"Nice going, Slick."  
"Slick? Slick!"_

Agent Jay resurfaced with a shuddering gasp, and looked around her for any signs of Kay. A flash of white appeared in the dark waters. Taking a deep breath, Jay dove and her hands grasped hold of a material that she identified as a shirt.

Jay reached forwards, wrapped one arm around Kay's chest, and swam in powerful strokes with her other arm. This time, the resurfacing was accompanied with coughing and spluttering. It wasn't easy trying to swim with (what was hopefully not a) deadweight.

"Kay," Jay adjusted the now limp man so his head was above water, "you alright?"

As expected, Kay didn't make an answer.

Jay looked ahead, and frowned when she saw the tunnel coming to an end – a dead end. The current was also slowing down, but below, the current still tugged at her feet.

_Why would it do that? Unless- _The light bulb clicked, and Jay let out a groan.

"Take a deep breath and hold it, buddy." She muttered to the unconscious man she was currently supporting. Then, Jay took a deep breath herself, and dove under the water for what was hopefully the last time tonight.

Her arms still tightly wrapped around Kay, Jay allowed the two of them to be swept away by the current. The current drew the two into a pipe (that reminded Jay too much of a sewer pipe) and after a few twists and turns, Kay and Jay were deposited unceremoniously into the Hudson river.

Jay dragged Kay out of the water, water dripping from both their forms.

"Okay, Edwards," Jay muttered, her fingers already probing Kay's head, "check for head injuries."

She found the source of Kay's unconsciousness – a large bump had already started to form on his head, no doubt from the falling debris.

There was nothing for it; Kay wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, and Jay had no idea where the LTD keys were.

_Well, I've got all night._ Jay slipped her arms around Kay again, and after much manoeuvring, Kay was draped over one shoulder, and Jay set off at a steady pace. Like she said earlier, she wasn't in a hurry, and the living quarters weren't that far away. Even so, she couldn't help complaining.

"For such a healthy guy, you're really heavy."

By the time Jay and Kay reached the MIB Living Quarters, they were met with a frantic Elle, who took one look at their bedraggled state and dragged the two into Zeeltor's quarters.

Later, Jay would blame the falling debris. She had completely forgotten about Alpha's warning about Zed.


End file.
